The Sambas, north of the Kapuas, is navigable in its lower course for vessels drawing 25 ft.
The districts of Sambas and Landak in the west, the Kahayan river, the mountain valleys of the extreme south-east and parts of Sarawak furnish the largest quantities of gold, which is obtained for the most part from alluvial washings.
Rice is grown in irrigated lands near the rivers and in the swamps, and also in rude clearings in the interior; sugar-cane of superior quality in Sambas and Montrado; cotton, sometimes exported in small quantities, on the banks of the Negara, a tributary of the Barito; tobacco, used very largely now in the production of cigars, in various parts of northern Borneo; and tobacco for native consumption, which is of small commercial importance, is cultivated in most parts of the island.
In Sambas, Montrado and some parts of Pontianak, the greater density of the population is due to the greater fertility of the soil, the opening of mines, the navigation and trade plied on the larger rivers, and the concentration of the population at the junctions of rivers, the mouths of rivers and the seats of government.
Of the chief place in the western division, Pontianak has about 9000 inhabitants; Sambas about 8000; Montrado, Mampawa and Landak between 2000 and 4000 each; and in the south and eastern division there are Banjermasin with nearly 50,000 inhabitants; Marabahan, Amuntai, Negara, Samarinda and Tengarung with populations of from 5000 to io,000 inhabitants each.
