EASTERN INTELLIGENCE.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 612, 14 June 1851, Page 4

EASTERN INTELLIGENCE.

Sarawak. —Sir James Brooke has suffered so much lately in his health, that it has been considered absolutely necessary that he should proceed to Europe. The other news from Sarawak is of a cheerful description. The settlement was progressing rapidly. The large influx of Chinese from Sambas was causing much of the jungle to disappear round the town, and it was expected that when the dry season set in, the clearings would be much extended. There are at present about 3,500 Chinese, men, women* and children, engaged in gold washing, trade, and agriculture. The Chinese from Sambas, having fled from that place with so much precipitation that they for the most part arrived at Sarawak quite destitute, are at present principally dependent on the Government for support, and will continue so until their paddy crop is ripe. Kum Nipa, one of the Kayan chiefs on the Rejang, is said to be thinking of descending below the rapids with the people under his control, to the number of 2000 families, and establishing himself there for the greater convenience of trade. Should the Kayan chief carry his intentions into effect, it will greatly tend to open the interior of the country to trade. Singapore.—The P. and O. Company’s steamer Pekin left Singapore on the 7th February, for Ceylon and Egypt. His Excellency Sir James Brooke, K.C.8., &c., embarked under the usual honors, his first destination being Malta. The coast is in general perfectly quiet. Lanun pirates have been reported towards the North, but their depredations have been very trifling there. The Serebus and Sakarran tribes continue to hold faithfully to their engagements to abandon piracy. In Sarawak everything is flourishing. The new Chinese immigrants from Sambas are actively employed in agriculture, and since the late reported defeat of the Dutch fresh parties are arriving.