When the str. Michael Jebsen cleared this port on Saturday week last for Hoihow, little was thought of her journey beyond the fact of her being engaged on one of her ordinary rans in the coastal trade in which some of the smaller vessels controlled by Messrs. jebsen & Ca. are engaged. The fact has since become known however, that the Michael Jebsen was then and has ce been under charter to small but influential syndicate of Hongkong financiers. The syndicate, it is learnt, has fitted out the Michael "Jebsen in a complete and thorough manner for a prolonged exploration expedition. field of such exploration, it is stated, to be along the coast of British North Borneo. The staff is composed, among others, of mining experts and. experienced prospectors, They command all the appliances necessary for the expedi-ion, including boring machines, presumably to test the reputed oil fields of Borneo; salving gear, drills, and of implements for prospecting. The exp tion will explore the reported diamond ferous territory, and will look for coal and other minerals which the extensive fields of the virgin territory of Borneo are well known to possess in abundance. Naturally, curiosity with be aroused us to the membership of the syndicate. position' definitely each individual name it will be sufficient to mention that one of the most prominent figures in the world of company promoting in Hongkong. ix said to bea moving spirit in the venture. His success in prospecting for sninerals in the New Territories of Hongkong may not improbably have furnished the stimulus for his embarking on the present enterprise. And it may be mentioned that the gentleman alluded to is not wholly unconnected with Bornean undertakings, since as a member of the mes Ga3cttc. Aue. 23, 1907 consulting committee of the China Borneo Ca., Ld., not long ago amal-gameted with the London Borneo Ca., of London, this gentleman should pos sess an inkling of the potentialities of the territory in which the Chartered Company has—and justifiably so—euch high hopes for the fature.
With the members of the expedition there proceeded also a small party of enthusiastic personal friends of the promoters of the scheme—who are going to Borneo on big game hunting. It is the success of the business part of the undertaking that is so keenly anticipated, and if the present venture will only help ultimately to recoup the Colony of its millions lost in the early nineties on Borneo tobacco plantations, etc, it will have done much to retrieve the Tortunes of many who had early and sanguine anticipations of the territory's agricultural possibilities. At any rate, now that the real object of the Michael Jebsen''s mission is become known the best wishes will go with her for her complete success in the interests of her en-forprising charterer—" The Hongkong.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.