Chapter III: Part 3

_History._--As has been seen, the British connexion with northern and north-western Borneo terminated with the 18th century, nor was it resumed until 1838, when Raja Brooke set out for Brunei and Sarawak. The island of Labuan (q.v.) was occupied by the British as a crown colony in 1848, and this may be taken as the starting-point of renewed British relations with that portion of northern Borneo which is situated to the north of Brunei. In 1872 the Labuan Trading Company was established in Sandakan, the fine harbour on the northern coast which was subsequently the capital of the North Borneo Company's territory. In 1878, through the instrumentality of Mr (afterwards Sir) Alfred Dent, the sultan of Sulu was induced to transfer to a syndicate, formed by Baron Overbeck and Mr Dent, all his rights in North Borneo, of which, as has been seen, he had been from time immemorial the overlord. The chief promoters of this syndicate were Sir Rutherford Alcock, Admiral the Hon. Sir Harry Keppel, who at an earlier stage of his career had rendered great assistance to the first raja of Sarawak in the suppression of piracy, and Mr Richard B. Martin. Early in 1881 the British North Borneo Provisional Association, Limited, was formed to take over the concession which had been obtained from the sultan of Sulu, and in November of that year a petition was addressed to Queen Victoria praying for a royal charter. This was granted, and subsequently the British North Borneo Company, which was formed in May 1882, took over, in spite of some diplomatic protests on the part of the Dutch and Spanish governments, all the sovereign and territorial rights ceded by the original grants, and proceeded under its charter to organize the administration of the territory. The company subsequently acquired further sovereign and territorial rights from the sultan of Brunei and his chiefs in addition to some which had already been obtained at the time of the formation of the company. The Putatan river was ceded in May 1884, the Padas district, including the Padas and Kalias rivers, in November of the same year, the Kawang river in February 1885, and the Mantanani islands in April 1885. In 1888, by an agreement with the "State of North Borneo," the territory of the company was made a British protectorate, but its administration remained entirely in the hands of the company, the crown reserving only control of its foreign relations, and the appointment of its governors being required to receive the formal sanction of the secretary of state for the colonies. In 1890 the British government placed the colony of Labuan under the administration of the company, the governor of the state of North Borneo thereafter holding a royal commission as governor of Labuan in addition to his commission from the company. This arrangement held good until 1905, when, in answer to the frequently and strongly expressed desire of the colonists, Labuan was removed from the jurisdiction of the company and attached to the colony of the Straits Settlements. In March 1898 arrangements were made whereby the sultan of Brunei ceded to the company all his sovereign and territorial rights to the districts situated to the north of the Padas river which up to that time had been retained by him. This had the effect of rounding off the company's territories, and had the additional advantage of doing away with the various no-man's lands which had long been used by the discontented among the natives as so many Caves of Adullam. The company's acquisition of territory was viewed with considerable dissatisfaction by many of the natives, and this found expression in frequent acts of violence. The most noted and the most successful of the native leaders was a Bajau named Mat Saleh (Mahomet Saleh), who for many years defied the company, whose policy in his regard was marked by considerable weakness and vacillation. In 1898 a composition was made with him, the terms of which were unfortunately not defined with sufficient clearness, and he retired into the Tambunan country, to the east of the range which runs parallel with the west coast, where for a period he lorded it unchecked over the Dusun tribes of the valley. In 1899 it was found necessary to expel him, since his acts of aggression and defiance were no longer endurable. A short, and this time a successful campaign followed, resulting, on the 31st of January 1900, in the death of Mat Saleh, and the destruction of his defences. Some of his followers who escaped raided the town of Kudat on Marudu Bay in April of the same year, but caused more panic than damage, and little by little during the next years the last smouldering embers of rebellion were extinguished. At the present time, though effective administration of the more inaccessible districts of the interior cannot be said to have been established even yet, the pacification of the native population is to all intents and purposes complete. The Tambunan district, the last stronghold of Mat Saleh, is now thoroughly settled. It is some 500 sq. m. in extent, and carries a population of perhaps 12,000.

_Geography._--The state of North Borneo may roughly be said to form a pentagon of which three sides, the north-west, north-east and east are washed by the sea, while the remaining two sides, the south-west and the south, are bordered respectively by the Malayan sultanate of Brunei, and by the territories of the raja of Sarawak and of the Dutch government. The boundary between the company's territory and the Dutch government is defined by the treaty concluded in June 1891, of which mention has already been made.

The total area of the company's territory is estimated at about 31,000 sq. m., with a coast-line of over 900 m. The greater portion is exceedingly hilly and in parts mountainous, and the interior consists almost entirely of highlands with here and there open valleys and plateaus of 50 to 60 sq. m. in extent. On the west coast the mountain range, as already noted, runs parallel with the seashore at a distance from it of about 15 m. Of this range the central feature is the mountain of Kinabalu, which is composed of porphyritic granite and igneous rocks and attains to a height of 13,698 ft. Mount Madalon, some 15 or 20 m. to the north, is 5000 ft. in height, and inland across the valley of the Pagalan river, which runs through the Tambunan country and falls into the Padas, rises the peak of Trus Madi, estimated to be 11,000 ft. above sea-level. The valley of the Pagalan is itself for the most part from 1000 to 2000 ft. above the sea, forming a string of small plateaus marking the sites of former lakes. From the base of Trus Madi to the eastern coast the country consists of huddled hills broken here and there by regions of a more mountainous character. The principal plateaus are in the Tambunan and Kaningau valleys, in the basin of the Pagalan, and the Ranau plain to the eastward of the base of Kinabalu. Similar plateaus of minor importance are to be found dotted about the interior. The proximity of the mountain range to the seashore causes the rivers of the west coast, with the single exception of the Padas, to be rapid, boulder-obstructed, shallow streams of little value as means of communication for a distance of more than half a dozen miles from their mouths. The Padas is navigable for light-draught steam-launches and native boats for a distance of nearly 50 m. from its mouth, and smaller craft can be punted up as far as Rayoh, some 15 m. farther, but at this point its bed is obstructed by impassable falls and rapids, which are of such a character that nothing can even be brought down them. Even below Rayoh navigation is rendered difficult and occasionally dangerous by similar obstructions. The other principal rivers of the west coast are the Kalias, Kimanis, Benoneh, Papar, Kinarut, Putatan, Inaman, Mengkabong, Tampasuk and Pandasan, none of which, however, is of any great importance as a means of communication. There is a stout breed of pony raised along the Tampasuk, which is also noted for the Kalupis waterfall (1500 ft.), one of the highest in the world, though the volume of water is not great. Here also are the principal Bajau settlements. Throughout the Malayan Archipelago the words _Bajau_ and _perompak_ (pirate) are still used as synonymous terms. At the northern extremity of the island Marudu Bay receives the waters of the Marudu which rises on the western side of Mount Madalon. On the east coast the principal rivers are the Sugut, which rises in the hills to the east of Kinabalu and forms its delta near Torongohok or Pura-Pura Island; the Labuk, which has its sources 70 m. inland and debouches into Labuk Bay; and the Kinabatangan, the largest and most important river in the territory, which is believed to have its rise eastward of the range of which Trus Madi is the principal feature, and is navigable by steamer for a considerable distance and by native boats for a distance of over 100 m. from its mouth. Some valuable tobacco land, which, however, is somewhat liable to flood, and some remarkable burial-caves are found in the valley of the Kinabatangan. The remaining rivers of the east coast are the Segamah, which rises west of Darvel Bay, the Kumpong, and the Kalabakang, which debouches into Cowie Harbour. Taking it as a whole, the company's territory is much less generously watered than are other parts of Borneo, which again compares unfavourably in this respect with the Malayan states of the peninsula. Many of the rivers, especially those of the west coast, are obstructed by bars at their mouths that render them difficult of access. Several of the natural harbours of North Borneo, on the other hand, are accessible, safe and commodious. Sandakan Harbour, on the north-east coast (5 deg. 40' N., 118 deg. 10' E.), runs inland for some 17 m. with a very irregular outline broken by the mouths of numerous creeks and streams. The mouth, only 2 m. across, is split into two channels by the little, high, bluff-like island of Barhala. The depth in the main entrance varies from 10 to 17 fathoms, and vessels drawing 20 ft. can advance half-way up the bay. The principal town in the territory, and the seat of government (though an attempt has been unsuccessfully made to transfer this to Jesselton on the west coast), is Sandakan, situated just inside the mouth of the Sarwaka inlet. At Silam, on Darvel Bay, there is good anchorage; and Kudat in Marudu Bay, first surveyed by Commander Johnstone of H.M.S. "Nigeria" in 1881, is a small but useful harbour.

_Climate and Population._--The climate of North Borneo is tropical, hot, damp and enervating. The rainfall is steady and not usually excessive. The shade temperature at Sandakan ordinarily ranges from 72 deg. to 94 deg. F. The population of the company's territory is not known with any approach to accuracy, but is estimated, somewhat liberally, to amount to 175,000, including 16,000 Chinese. Of this total about three-fourths are found in the districts of the west coast. The seashore and the country bordering closely on the west coast are inhabited chiefly by Dusuns, by Kadayans, by Bajaus and Ilanuns--both Malayan tribes--and by Brunei Malays. The east coast is very sparsely populated and its inhabitants are mostly Bajaus and settlers from the neighbouring Sulu archipelago. The interior is dotted with infrequent villages inhabited by Dusuns or by Muruts, a village ordinarily consisting of a single long hut divided up into cubicles, one for the use of each family, opening out on to a common verandah along which the skulls captured by the tribe are festooned. It has been customary to speak of these tribes as belonging to the Dyak group, but the Muruts would certainly seem to be the representatives of the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, and there is much reason to think that the Dusuns also must be classed as distinct from the Dyaks. The Dusun language, it is interesting to note, presents very curious grammatical complications and refinements such as are not to be found among the tongues spoken by any of the other peoples of the Malayan Archipelago or the mainland of south-eastern Asia. Dusuns and Muruts alike are in a very low state of civilization, and both indulge inordinately in the use of intoxicating liquors of their own manufacture.

_Settlements and Communication._--The company possesses a number of small stations along the coast, of which Sandakan, with a population of 9 500, is the most important. The remainder which call for separate mention are Lahat Datu on Darvel Bay on the east coast; Kudat on Marudu Bay and Jesselton on Gaya Bay on the west coast. A railway of indifferent construction runs along the west coast from Jesselton to Weston on Brunei Bay, with a branch along the banks of the Padas to Tenom above the rapids. It was originally intended that this should eventually be extended across the territory to Cowie Harbour (Sabuko Bay) on the east coast, but the extraordinary engineering difficulties which oppose themselves to such an extension, the sparse population of the territory, and the failure of the existing line to justify the expectations entertained by its designers, combine to render the prosecution of any such project highly improbable. Sandakan is connected by telegraph with Mempakul on the west coast whence a cable runs to Labuan and so gives telegraphic communication with Singapore. The overland line from Mempakul to Sandakan, however, passes through forest-clad and very difficult country, and telegraphic communication is therefore subject to very frequent interruption. Telegraphic communication between Mempakul and Kudat, via Jesselton, has also been established and is more regularly and successfully maintained. The only roads in the territory are bridle-paths in the immediate vicinity of the company's principal stations. The Sabah Steamship Company, subsidized by the Chartered Company, runs steamers along the coast, calling at all the company's stations at which native produce is accumulated. A German firm runs vessels at approximately bi-monthly intervals from Singapore to Labuan and thence to Sandakan, calling in on occasion at Jesselton and Kudat _en route_. There is also fairly frequent communication between Sandakan and Hong-Kong, a journey of four days' steaming.

_Products and Trade._--The capabilities of the company's territory are only dimly known. Coal has been found in the neighbourhood of Cowie Harbour and elsewhere, but though its quality is believed to be as good as that exported from Dutch Borneo, it is not yet known whether it exists in payable quantities. Gold has been found in alluvial deposits on the banks of some of the rivers of the east coast, but here again the quantity available is still in serious doubt. The territory as a whole has been very imperfectly examined by geologists, and no opinion can at present be hazarded as to the mineral wealth or poverty of the company's property. Traces of mineral oil, iron ores, copper, zinc and antimony have been found, but the wealth of North Borneo still lies mainly in its jungle produce. It possesses a great profusion of excellent timber, but the difficulty of extraction has so far restricted the lumber industry within somewhat modest limits. Gutta, rubber, rattans, mangrove-bark, edible nuts, guano, edible birds'-nests, &c., are all valuable articles of export. The principal cultivated produce is tobacco, sago, cocoanuts, coffee, pepper, gambier and sugar-canes. Of these the tobacco and the sago are the most important. Between 1886 and 1900 the value of the tobacco crop increased from L471 to L200,000.

As is common throughout Malayan lands, the trade of North Borneo is largely in the hands of Chinese shopkeepers who send their agents inland to attend the _Tamus_ (Malay, _temu_, to meet) or fairs, which are the recognized scenes of barter between the natives of the interior and those of the coast. At Sandakan there is a Chinese population of over 2000.

_Administration._--For administrative purposes the territory is divided into nine provinces: Alcock and Dewhurst in the north; Keppel on the west; Martin in the centre; Myburgh, Mayne and Elphinstone on the east coast; and Dent and Cunliffe in the south. The boundaries of these provinces, however, are purely arbitrary and not accurately defined. The form of government is modelled roughly upon the system adopted in the Malay States of the peninsula during the early days of their administration by British residents. The government is vested primarily in the court of directors appointed under the company's charter, which may be compared to the colonial office in its relation to a British colony, though the court of directors interests itself far more closely than does the colonial department in the smaller details of local administration. The supreme authority on the spot is represented by the governor, under whom are the residents of Kudat, Darvel Bay and Keppel, officers who occupy much the same position as that usually known by the title of magistrate and collector. The less important districts are administered by district magistrates, who also collect the taxes. The principal departments, whose chiefs reside at the capital, are the treasury, the land and survey, the public works, the constabulary, the medical and the judicial. The secretariat is under the charge of a government secretary who ranks next in precedence to the governor. Legislation is by the proclamation of the governor, but there is a council, meeting at irregular intervals, upon which the principal heads of departments and one unofficial member have seats. The public service is recruited by nomination by the court of directors. The governor is the chief judge of the court of appeal, but a judge who is subordinate to him takes all ordinary supreme court cases. The laws are the Indian Penal and Civil Procedure Codes and Evidence Acts, supplemented by a few local laws promulgated by proclamation. There is an Imam's court for the trial of cases affecting Mahommedan law of marriage, succession, &c. The native chiefs are responsible to the government for the preservation of law and order in their districts. They have restricted judicial powers. The constabulary numbers some 600 men and consists of a mixed force of Sikhs, Pathans, Punjabi Mahommedans, Dyaks and Malays, officered by a few Europeans. There is a Protestant mission which supports a church--the only stone building in the territory--and a school at Sandakan, with branches at Kudat, Kaningau and Tambunan. The Roman Catholic mission maintains an orphanage, a church and school at Sandakan, and has missions among the Dusuns at several points on the west coast and in the Tambunan country. Its headquarters are at Kuching in Sarawak. The Chinese have their joss-houses and the Mahommedans a few small mosques, but the vast majority of the native inhabitants are pagans who have no buildings set apart for religious purposes.

_Finance and Money._--The principal sources of revenue are the licences granted for the importation and retailing of opium, wine and spirits, which are in the hands of Chinese; a customs duty of 5% on imports; an export tax of 5% on jungle produce; a poll-tax sanctioned by ancient native custom; and a stamp duty. A land revenue is derived from the sale of government lands, from quit rents and fees of transfer, &c. Judicial fees bring in a small amount, and the issue and sale of postage and revenue stamps have proved a fruitful source of income. The people of the country are by no means heavily taxed, a large number of the natives of the interior escaping all payment of dues to the company, the revenue being for the most part contributed by the more civilized members of the community residing in the neighbourhood of the company's stations. There are bank agencies in Sandakan, and the company does banking business when required. The state, which has adopted the penny postage, is in the Postal Union, and money orders on North Borneo are issued in the United Kingdom and in most British colonies and vice versa. Notes issued by the principal banks in Singapore were made current in North Borneo in 1900. There is also a government note issue issued by the company for use within the territory only. The currency is the Mexican and British dollar, the company issuing its own copper coin--viz. cents and half cents. It is proposed to adopt the coinage of the Straits Settlements, and measures have been taken with a view to the accomplishment of this. In the interior the principal medium of exchange among the natives is the large earthenware jars, imported originally, it is believed, from China, which form the chief wealth both of tribes and individuals. (H. Cl.)

AUTHORITIES.--Among early works may be mentioned, S. Blommaert,
_Discours ende ghelegentheyt van het eylandt Borneo int Jear 1609_;
_Hachelyke reystogt van Jacob Jansz. de Roy na Borneo en Atchin in het
jaar 1691_; Beeckman, _Visit to Borneo_, 1718, in J. Pinkerton's
_General Collections_ (1808-1814); F. Valentijn in _Ond en Nieuw Oost
Indien_ (Dordrecht, 1724-1726). See also H. Keppel, _Expedition to
Borneo of H.M.S. "Dido"_ (London, 1846); R. Mundy, _Narrative of
Events in Borneo and Celebes_ (London, 1848); F.S. Marryat,
_Borneo_, &c. (1848); P.J. Veth, _Borneo's Westerafdeeling_
(Zalt-Bommel, 1854 and 1856); S. Muller, _Reizen en onderzoekingen in
den Indischen Archipel_ (Amsterdam, 1857); C. Bock, _Head-hunters of
Borneo_ (London, 1881), and _Reis in Oost en Zuid-Borneo_ (The Hague,
1887); J. Hatton, _The New Ceylon, a Sketch of British North Borneo_
(London, 1882); F. Hatton, _North Borneo_ (London, 1885); T. Posewitz,
_Borneo... Verbreitung der nutzbaren Mineralien_ (Berlin, 1889), Eng.
trans., _Borneo; its Geology and Mineral Resources_ (London, 1892); J.
Whitehead, _Exploration of Mount Kini Balu_ (London, 1893); Mrs W.B.
Pryor, _A Decade in Borneo_ (London, 1894); H. Ling Roth, _The Natives
of Sarawak and North Borneo_ (London, 1896); G.A.F. Molengraaf,
_Geologische Verkinningstochten in Centraal Borneo_ (Leiden, 1900,
Eng. trans. 1902); A.W. Niewenhuis, _In Centraal Borneo_ (Leiden,
1901), and _Quer durch Borneo_ (Leiden, 1904), &c.; W.H. Furness,
_Home Life of Borneo Head-hunters_ (London, 1902); O. Beccari, _Nelle
Foreste di Borneo_ (Florence, 1902), Eng. trans., _Wanderings in the
Great Forests of Borneo_ (London, 1904); D. Cator, _Everyday Life
among the Head-hunters_ (London, 1905). For geology, besides the works
of Posewitz and Molengraaf already cited, see R.B. Newton in _Geol.
Mag_., 1897, pp. 407-415, and _Proc. Malac. Soc_., London, vol. v.
(1902-1903), pp. 403-409. A series of papers on the palaeontology of
the island will be found in the several volumes of the _Samml. Geol_.
R. Mus., Leiden.

BORNHOLM, an island in the Baltic Sea, 22 m. S.E. of the Swedish coast, belonging to Denmark, lying on 15 deg. E., and between 55 deg. and 55 deg. 18' N., and measuring 24 m. from S.E. to N.W. and 19 (extreme) from E. to W. Pop. (1901) 40,889. The surface is generally hilly; the scenery is fine in the north, where the cliffs reach a height of 135 ft., and the granite hill of Helligdomsklipper dominates the island. Besides freestone, exported for building, limestone, blue marble, and porcelain-clay are worked. A little coal is found and used locally, but it is not of good quality. Oats, flax and hemp are cultivated. The inhabitants are employed in agriculture, fishing, brewing, distillation and the manufacture of earthenware. Weaving and clock-making are also carried on to some extent. The capital is Ronne (115 m. by sea from Copenhagen), and there are five other small towns on the island--Svanike, Nekso, Hasle, Allinge, and Sandvig. A railway connects Ronne with Nekso (22 m. E. by S.), where a bust commemorates J.N. Madvig, the philologist, who was born there in 1804 (d. 1886). Blanch's Hotel, 10 m. N. of Ronne, is the most favoured resort on the island, which attracts many visitors. On the north-west coast are the ruins of the castle of Hammershus, which was built in 1158, and long served as a state prison; while another old castle, erected by Christian V. in 1684, and important as commanding the entrance to the Baltic, is situated on Christianso, one of a small group of islands 15 m. E. by N. The island of Bornholm has had an eventful history. In early times it was long the independent seat of marauding Vikings. In the 12th century it became a fief of the archbishop of Lund. In 1510 it was captured by the Hanseatic League, in 1522 it came under Danish sway, and in 1526 it was made directly subject to the city of Lubeck. In 1645 the Swedes took it by storm, and their possession of it was confirmed by the peace of Roskilde in 1658; but the sympathies of the people were with Denmark, and a popular insurrection succeeded in expelling the Swedish forces, the island coming finally into the possession of Denmark in 1660.

BORNIER, HENRI, VICOMTE DE (1825-1901) French poet and dramatist, was born at Lunel (Herault) on the 25th of December 1825. He came to Paris in 1845 With the object of studying law, but in that year he published a volume of verse, _Les Premieres Feuilles_, and the Comedie Francaise accepted a play of his entitled _Le Mariage de Luther_. He was given a post in the library of the Arsenal, where he served for half a century, becoming director in 1889. In 1875 was produced at the Theatre Francais his heroic drama in verse, _La Fille de Roland_. The action of the play turns on the love of Gerald, son of the traitor Ganelon, for the daughter of Roland. The patriotic subject and the nobility of the character of Gerald, who renounces Berthe when he learns his real origin, procured for the piece a great success. The conflict between honour and love and the grandiose sentiment of the play inevitably provoked comparison with Corneille. The piece would indeed be a masterpiece if, as its critics were not slow to point out, the verse had been quite equal to the subject. Among the numerous other works of M. de Bornier should be mentioned: _Dimitri_ (1876), libretto of an opera by M.V. de Joncieres; and the dramas, _Les Noces d'Allila_ (1880) and _Mahomet_ (1888). The production of this last piece was forbidden in deference to the representations of the Turkish ambassador. Henri de Bornier was critic of the _Nouvelle Revue_ from 1879 to 1887. His _Poesies completes_ were published in 1894. He died in January 1901.

BORNU, a country in the Central Sudan, lying W. and S. of Lake Chad. It is bounded W. and S. by the Hausa states and N. by the Sahara. Formerly an independent Mahommedan sultanate it has been divided between Great Britain, Germany and France. To France has fallen a portion of northern Bornu and also Zinder (q.v.), a tributary state to the north-west, while the south-west part is incorporated in the German colony of Cameroon. Three-fourths of Bornu proper, some 50,000 sq. m., forms part of the British protectorate of Nigeria.

Bornu is for the most part an alluvial plain, the country sloping gradually to Lake Chad, which formerly spread over a much larger area than it now occupies. The Komadugu (i.e. river) Waube--generally known as the Yo--and its tributaries rise in the highlands which, beyond the western border of Bornu, form the watershed between the Niger and Chad systems, and flow north and east across the plains to Lake Chad, the Yo in its last few miles marking the frontier between the French and British possessions. In the south-west a part of Bornu drains to the Benue. The rivers are intermittent, and water in southern Bornu is obtained only from wells, which are sunk to a great depth. The vast plain of Bornu is stoneless, except for rare outcrops of ironstone, and consists of the porous fissured black earth called "cotton soil" in India, alternating with, or more probably overlaid by, sand. Throughout the flat country water is apparently found everywhere at a depth of 54 ft., corresponding to the level of Chad. Towards Damjiri in the north-west the country becomes more broken, hilly and timbered. In the south limestone is found near Gujba and also along the Gongola tributary of the Benue. A forest of red and green barked acacia, yielding the species of gum most valuable in the market, extends from the Gongola to Gujba. Immense baobabs (_Adansonia digitata_), fine tamarinds and a few trees of the genus _Ficus_ are met with in the south. North of Maifoni (latitude 12 deg. N.) the baobab ceases, except at Kuka, where extensive plantations have been made, and its place is taken by the _Kigelia_ and also by a very handsome species of _Diospyros_. North of Kuka is a dense belt of _Hyphaene_ palm with fine tamarinds and figs. Cotton and indigo grow wild, and afford the materials for the cloths, finely dyed with blue stripes, which form the staple fabric of the country. On the shores of Lake Chad the cotton grown is of a peculiarly fine quality. Rice and wheat of excellent quality are raised, but in small quantities, the staple food being a species of millet called _gussub_, which is made into a kind of paste and eaten with butter or honey. Ground-nuts, yams, sweet potatoes, several sorts of beans and grains, peppers, onions, water-melons and tomatoes are grown. Of fruit trees the country possesses the lime and fig.

Wild animals, in great numbers, find both food and cover in the extensive districts of wood and marsh. Lions, giraffes, elephants, hyenas, crocodiles, hippopotami, antelopes, gazelles and ostriches are found. The horse, the camel and the ox are the chief domestic animals; all are used as beasts of burden. The country abounds with bees, and honey forms one of the chief Bornuese delicacies.

The climate, especially from March to the end of June, is oppressively hot, rising sometimes to 105 deg. and 107 deg., and even during most of the night not falling much below 100 deg. In May the wet season begins, with violent storms of thunder and lightning. In the end of June the rivers and lakes begin to overflow, and for several months the rains, accompanied with sultry weather, are almost incessant. The inhabitants at this season suffer greatly from fevers. In October the rains abate; cool, fresh winds blow from the west and north-west; and for several months the climate is healthy and agreeable.

_Inhabitants._--The inhabitants, of whom the great majority profess Mahommedanism, are divided into Negroes and those of mixed blood, i.e. Negro and Berber, Arab or other crossing. The total population of British Bornu is estimated at 500,000. The dominant tribe, called Bornuese, Berberi or Kanuri, a Negro race with an infusion of Berber blood, have black skins, large mouths, thick lips and broad noses, but good teeth and high foreheads. The females add to their want of beauty by extensive tattooing; they also stain their faces with indigo, and dye their front teeth black and their canine teeth red. The law allows polygamy, but the richest men have seldom more than two or three wives. The marriage ceremonies last for a whole week, the first three days being spent in feasting on the favourite national dishes, and the others appropriated to certain symbolical rites. A favourite amusement is the watching of wrestling matches. A game bearing some resemblance to chess, played with beans and holes in the sand, is also a favourite occupation.

The pastoral districts of the country are occupied by the Shuwas, who are of Arab origin, and speak a well-preserved dialect of Arabic. Of the date of their immigration from the East there is no record; but they were in the country as early as the middle of the 17th century. They are divided into numerous distinct clans. Their villages in general consist of rudely constructed huts, of an exaggerated conical form. Another tribe, called La Salas, inhabits a number of low fertile islands in Lake Chad, separated from the mainland by fordable channels.

The Bornuese are noted horsemen, and in times of war the horses, as well as the riders, used to be cased in light iron mail. The Shuwas, however, are clad only in a light shirt, and the Kanembu spearmen go almost naked, and fight with shield and spear. It is indispensable to a chief of rank that he should possess a huge belly, and when high feeding cannot produce this, padding gives the appearance of it. Notwithstanding the heat of the climate, the body is enveloped in successive robes, the number indicating the rank of the wearer. The head likewise is enclosed in numerous turbans. The prevailing language in Bornu is the Kanuri. It has no affinity, according to Heinrich Barth, with the great Berber family. A grammar was published in 1854 by S.W. Koelle, as well as a volume of tales and fables, with a translation and vocabulary.

The towns in Bornu, which have populations varying from 10,000 to 50,000 or more, are surrounded with walls 35 or 40 ft. in height and 20 ft. in thickness, having at each of the four corners a triple gate, composed of strong planks of wood, with bars of iron. The abodes of the principal inhabitants form an enclosed square, in which are separate houses for each of the wives; the chief's palace consists of turrets connected together by terraces. These are well built of a reddish clay, highly polished, so as to resemble stucco; the interior roof, though composed only of branches, is tastefully constructed. Maidugari, which in 1908 became the seat of the native government, is a thriving commercial town some 70 m. south-west of Lake Chad. The former capital, Kuka (q.v.), and Ngornu (the town of "blessing"), are near the shores of Lake Chad. On the Yo are still to be seen extensive remains of Old Bornu or Birni and Gambarou or Ghambaru, which were destroyed by the Fula about 1809. Dikwa, the capital chosen by Rabah (see below), lies in the German part of Bornu.

_History._--The history of Bornu goes back to the 9th century A.D., but its early portions are very fragmentary and dubious. The first dynasty known is that of the Sefuwa or descendants of Sef, which came to the throne in the person of Dugu or Duku, and had its capital at Njimiye (Jima) in Kanem on the north-east shores of Lake Chad. The Sefuwa are of Berber origin, the descent from Sef, the Himyaritic ruler, being mythical. From this Berber strain comes the name Berberi or Ba-Berberche, applied by the Hausa to the inhabitants of Bornu. Mahommedanism was adopted towards the end of the 11th century, and has since continued the religion of the country. From 1194 to 1220 reigned Selma II., under whom the power of the kingdom was greatly extended; and Dunama II., his successor was also a powerful and warlike prince. In the following reigns the prosperity of the country began to diminish, and about 1386 the dynasty was expelled from Njimiye, and forced to seek refuge in the western part of its territory by the invasion of the Bulala. Mai Ali (I.) Ghajideni, who founded the city of Birni, rendered his country once more redoubtable and strong. His successor, Idris II., completely vanquished the Bulala and subjugated Kanem; and under Mahommed V., the next monarch, Bornu reached its highest pitch of greatness. At this period Zinder became a tributary state. A series of for the most part peaceful reigns succeeded till about the middle of the 18th century, when Ali (IV.) Omarmi entered upon a violent struggle with the Tuareg or Imoshagh. Under his son Ahmed (about 1808) the kingdom began to be harassed by the Fula, who had already conquered the Hausa country. Expelled from his capital by the invaders, Ahmed was only restored by the assistance of the fakir Mahommed al-Amin al-Kanemi, who, pretending to a celestial mission, hoisted the green flag of the Prophet, and undertook the deliverance of his country. The Fula appear to have been taken by surprise, and were in ten months driven completely out of Bornu. The conqueror invested the nearest heir of the ancient kings with all the appearance of sovereignty--reserving for himself, however, under the title of sheik, all its reality. The court of the sultan (_shehu_) was established at New Bornu, or Birni, which was made the capital, the old city having been destroyed during the Fula invasion; while the sheik, in military state, took up his residence at the new city of Kuka. Fairly established, he ruled the country with a rod of iron, and at the same time inspired his subjects with a superstitious notion of his sanctity. His zeal was peculiarly directed against moral or religious offences. The most frivolous faults of women, as talking too loud, and walking in the street unveiled, rendered the offender liable to public indictment, while graver errors were visited with the most ignominious punishments, and often with death itself. Kanemi died in 1835, and was succeeded by his son, Sheik Omar, who altogether abolished the nominal kingship of the Sefuwa.

During Omar's reign, which lasted about fifty years, Bornu was visited by many Europeans, who reached it via Tripoli and the Sahara. The first to enter the country were Walter Oudney, Hugh Clapperton and Dixon Denham (1823). They were followed in 1851-1855 by Heinrich Barth. Later travellers included Gerhard Rohlfs (1866) and Gustav Nachtigal. All these travellers were well received by the Kanuri, whose power from the middle of the 19th century began to decay. This was foreseen by Barth; and Nachtigal, who in 1870 conveyed presents sent by King William of Prussia, in acknowledgment of the sheik's kindness to many German explorers, writes thus in December 1872:

"The rapid declension of Bornu is an undeniable and lamentable fact.
It is taking place with increasing rapidity, and the boundless
weakness of Sheik Omar--otherwise so worthy and brave a man--must bear
almost all the blame. His sons and ministers plunder the provinces in
an almost unheard-of manner; trade and intercourse are almost at a
standstill; good faith and confidence exist no more. The indolence of
the court avoids military expeditions, and anarchy and a lack of
security on the routes are the consequences.... Thus the sheik and the
land grow poorer and poorer, and public morality sinks lower and
lower."

After the visit of Nachtigal the country was visited by no European traveller until 1892, when Colonel P.L. Monteil resided for a time at Kuka during his great journey from the Senegal to Tripoli. The French traveller noticed many signs of decadence, the energy of the people being sapped by luxury, while a virtual anarchy prevailed owing to rivalries and intrigues among members of the royal family. The chief of Zinder had ceased to pay tribute, and the sultan was not strong enough to exact it by force. At the same time a danger was threatening from the south-east, where the negro adventurer Rabah, once a slave of Zobeir Pasha, was menacing the kingdom of Bagirmi. After making himself master of the fortified town of Manifa, Rabah proceeded against Bornu, defeating the army of the sultan Ahsem in two pitched battles. In December 1893 Ahsem fled from Kuka, which was entered by Rabah and soon afterwards destroyed, the capital being transferred to Dikwa in the south-east of the kingdom. These events ruined for many years the trade between Tripoli and Kuka by the long-established route via Bilma. Rabah had raised a large, well-drilled army, and proved a formidable opponent to the French in their advance on Lake Chad from the south. However in 1900 he was killed at Kussuri near the lower Shari, by the combined forces of three French expeditions which had been converging from the Congo, the Sahara and the Niger.

By an Anglo-French agreement of 1898 the tributary state of Zinder in the north had been included in the French sphere, and after the defeat of Rabah French military expeditions occupied both the German and British portions of Bornu, but in 1902 on the appearance of British and German expeditions the French withdrew to their own country east of the Shari. The British placed on the throne of Bornu Shehu Garbai, a descendant of the ancient sultans, and Kuka was again chosen as the capital of the state. From that date British Bornu has been under administrative control. It has been divided into East and West Bornu, the line of division being fixed approximately at longitude 12 deg., and placed under the administration of a resident. Maifoni and Kuka were selected for British stations in the east, and Damjiri and Gujba in the west. Garrisons are quartered at these points. The province has been mapped, and a network of tracks available for wheeled transport has been made through it. Water communication with the Benue and Niger has been opened through the Gongola river. The _shehu_, who took the oath of allegiance to the British crown on the occasion of his formal installation in November 1904, is maintained in all local dignity as a native chief, and co-operates loyally with the British administration. Peace has prevailed in Bornu since the British occupation, and it is estimated that the population has increased by immigration to about 50% more than it was in 1902. The people are industrious. Extensive areas are being brought under cultivation, and taxes are collected without difficulty. Owing to its increasing commercial importance, the native capital was in 1908 transferred to Maidugari (see also NIGERIA: _History;_ and RABAH).

AUTHORITIES.--Heinrich Barth's _Travels in North and Central Africa_
(1857, new ed., London, 1890) contains an exact picture of the state
in the period (c. 1850) preceding its decay. The earlier _Travels_ of
Denham and Clapperton (London, 1828) may also be consulted, as well as
Rohlfs, _Land und Volk in Afrika_ (Bremen, 1870); Nachtigal, _Sahara
und Sudan_, vol. i. (Berlin, 1879); and Monteil, _de St.-Louis a
Tripoli par le lac Tchad_ (Paris, 1895). For later information consult
Lady Lugard's _A Tropical Dependency_ (London, 1905), and the _Annual
Reports_, from 1900 onward, on Northern Nigeria, issued by the
Colonial Office, London. (F. L. L.)

BORODIN, ALEXANDER PORFYRIEVICH (1834-1887), Russian musical composer, natural son of a Russian prince, was born in St Petersburg on the 12th of November 1834. He was brought up to the medical profession, and in 1862 was appointed assistant professor of chemistry at the St Petersburg academy of medicine. He wrote several works on chemistry, and took a leading part in advocating women's education, helping to found the school of medicine for women, and lecturing there from 1872 till his death. But he is best known as a musician. His interest in music was indeed stimulated from 1862 onwards by his friendship with Balakirev, and from 1863 by his marriage with a lady who was an accomplished pianist; but in his earlier years he had been proficient both in playing the piano, violin, 'cello and other instruments, and also in composing; and during life he did his best to pursue his studies in both music and chemistry with equal enthusiasm. Like other Russian composers he owed much to the influence of Liszt at Weimar. His first symphony was written in 1862-1867; his opera _Prince Igor_, begun in 1869, was left unfinished at his death, and was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazounov (1889); his symphonic sketch, "In the Steppes" (1880) is, however, his best-known work. Borodin also wrote a second symphony (1871-1877), part of a third (orchestrated after his death by Glazounov), and a few string quartets and some fine songs. His music is characteristically Russian, and of an advanced modern type. He died suddenly at St Petersburg, on the 28th of February 1887.

BORODINO, a village of Russia, 70 m. W. by S. of Moscow, on the Kolotscha, an affluent of the river Moskva, famous as the scene of a great battle between the army of Napoleon and the Russians under Kutusov on the 7th of September 1812. Though the battle is remembered chiefly for the terrible losses incurred by both sides, in many respects it is an excellent example of Napoleon's tactical methods. After preliminary fighting on the 5th of September both sides prepared for battle on the 6th, Napoleon holding back in the hope of confirming the enemy in his resolution to fight a decisive battle. For the same reason the French right wing, which could have manoeuvred the Russians from their position, was designedly weakened. The Russian right, bent back at an angle and strongly posted, was also neglected, for Napoleon intended to make a direct frontal attack. The enemy's right centre near the village of Borodino was to be attacked by the viceroy of Italy, Eugene, who was afterwards to roll up the Russian line towards its centre, the so-called "great redoubt," which was to be attacked directly from the front by Ney and Junot. Farther to the French right, Davout was to attack frontally a group of field works on which the Russian left centre was formed; and the extreme right of the French army was composed of the weak corps of Poniatowski. The cavalry corps were assigned to the various leaders named, and the Guard was held in reserve. The whole line was not more than about 2 m. long, giving an average of over 20 men per yard. When the Russians closed on their centre they were even more densely massed, and their reserves were subjected to an effective fire from the French field guns. At 6 A.M. on the 7th of September the French attack began. By 8 A.M. the Russian centre was driven in, and though a furious counter-attack enabled Prince Bagration's troops to win back their original line, fresh French troops under Davout and Ney drove them back again. But the Russians, though they lost ground elsewhere, still clung to the great redoubt, and for a time the advance of the French was suspended by Napoleon's order, owing to a cavalry attack by the Russians on Eugene's extreme left. When this alarm was ended the advance was resumed. Napoleon had now collected a sufficient target for his guns. A terrific bombardment by the artillery was followed by the decisive charge of the battle, made by great masses of cavalry. The horsemen, followed by the infantry, charged at speed, broke the Russian line in two, and the French squadrons entered the gorge of the great redoubt just as Eugene's infantry climbed up its faces. In a fearful _melee_ the Russian garrison of the redoubt was almost annihilated. The defenders were now dislodged from their main line and the battle was practically at an end. Napoleon has been criticized for not using the Guard, which was intact, to complete the victory. There is, however, no evidence that any further expenditure of men would have had good results. Napoleon had imposed his will on the enemy so far that they ceded possession of Moscow without further resistance. That the defeat and losses of the Russian field army did not end the war was due to the national spirit of the Russians, not to military miscalculations of Napoleon. Had it not been for this spirit, Borodino would have been decisive of the war without'the final blow of the Guard. As it was, the Russians lost about 42,000 men out of 121,000; Napoleon's army (of which one-half consisted of the contingents of subject allies-Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Holland, &c.) 32,000 out of 130,000 (Berndt, _Zahl im Kriege_). On the side of the French 31 general officers were killed, wounded or taken, and amongst the killed were General Montbrun, who fell at the head of his cavalry corps, and Auguste Caulaincourt, who took Montbrun's place and fell in the _melee_ in the redoubt. The Russians lost 22 generals, amongst them Prince Bagration, who died of his wounds after the battle, and to whose memory a monument was erected on the battle-field by the tsar Nicholas I.

BOROLANITE, one of the most remarkable rocks of the British Isles, found on the shores of Loch Borolan in Sutherlandshire, after which it has been named. In this locality there is a considerable area of granite rich in red alkali felspar, and passing, by diminution in the amount of its quartz, into quartz-syenites (nordmarkites) and syenites. At the margins of the outcrop patches of nepheline-syenite occur; usually the nepheline is decomposed, but occasionally it is well-preserved; the other ingredients of the rock are brown garnet (melanite) and aegirine. The abundance of melanite is very unusual in igneous rocks, though some syenites, leucitophyres, and aegirine-felsites resemble borolanite in this respect. In places the nepheline-syenite assumes the form of a dark rock with large rounded white spots. These last consist of an intermixture of nepheline or sodalite and alkali-felspar. From the analogy of certain leucite-syenites which are known in Arkansas, it is very probable that these spots represent original leucites which have been changed into aggregates of the above-named minerals. They resemble leucite in their shape, but have not yet been proved to have its crystalline outlines. The "pseudo-leucites," as they have been called, measure one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch across. The dark matrix consists of biotite, aegirine-augite and melanite. Connected with the borolanite there are other types of nepheline-syenite and pegmatite. In Finland, melanite-bearing nepheline rocks have been found and described as Ijolite, but the only other locality for melanite-leucite-syenite is Magnet Cove in Arkansas. (J. S. F.)

BORON (symbol B, atomic weight 11), one of the non-metallic elements, occurring in nature in the form of boracic (boric) acid, and in various borates such as borax, tincal, boronatrocalcite and boracite. It was isolated by J. Gay Lussac and L. Thenard in 1808 by heating boron trioxide with potassium, in an iron tube. It was also isolated at about the same time by Sir H. Davy, from boracic acid. It may be obtained as a dark brown amorphous powder by placing a mixture of 10 parts of the roughly powdered oxide with 6 parts of metallic sodium in a red-hot crucible, and covering the mixture with a layer of well-dried common salt. After the vigorous reaction has ceased and all the sodium has been used up, the mass is thrown into dilute hydrochloric acid, when the soluble sodium salts go into solution, and the insoluble boron remains as a brown powder, which may by filtered off and dried. H. Moissan (_Ann. Chim. Phys._, 1895, 6, p. 296) heats three parts of the oxide with one part of magnesium powder. The dark product obtained is washed with water, hydrochloric acid and hydrofluoric acid, and finally calcined again with the oxide or with borax, being protected from air during the operation by a layer of charcoal. Pure amorphous boron is a chestnut-coloured powder of specific gravity 2.45; it sublimes in the electric arc, is totally unaffected by air at ordinary temperatures, and burns on strong ignition with production of the oxide B2O3 and the nitride BN. It combines directly with fluorine at ordinary temperature, and with chlorine, bromine and sulphur on heating. It does not react with the alkali metals, but combines with magnesium at a low red heat to form a boride, and with other metals at more or less elevated temperatures. It reduces many metallic oxides, such as lead monoxide and cupric oxide, and decomposes water at a red heat. Heated with sulphuric acid and with nitric acid it is oxidized to boric acid, whilst on fusion with alkaline carbonates and hydroxides it gives a borate of the alkali metal. Like silicon and carbon, very varying values had been given for its specific heat, until H.F. Weber showed that the specific heat increases rapidly with increasing temperature. By strongly heating a mixture of boron trioxide and aluminium, protected from the air by a layer of charcoal, F. Wohler and H. Sainte-Claire Deville obtained a grey product, from which, on dissolving out the aluminium with sodium hydroxide, they obtained a crystalline product, which they thought to be a modification of boron, but which was shown later to be a mixture of aluminium borides with more or less carbon. Boron dissolves in molten aluminium, and on cooling, transparent, almost colourless crystals are obtained, possessing a lustre, hardness and refractivity near that of the diamond. In 1904 K.A. Kuhne (D.R.P. 147,871) described a process in which external heating is not necessary, a mixture of aluminium turnings, sulphur and boric acid being ignited by a hot iron rod, the resulting aluminium sulphide, formed as a by-product, being decomposed by water.