476 



"the unfavoiirable disposition of the popuhxtion of the island, not 

 "jet fulfilled the order given to him. ^) 



A short time after S. Roos communicated the following- inform- 

 ation concerning tin. "The people of Rokka often sell on the shore 

 "bracelets made of tin, bnt thej do not allow anybody to visit 

 "their village . . . The Endehnese admit as rather certain that much 

 "tin-ore occurs in the ground of Rokka, bnt for fear of being mnr- 

 "dered they dare not venture into this village ; this was likewise 

 "the reason why nobody, even for ample payment, would accom- 

 "pany me thither, so that I had to desist from the journey : It is 

 "however known to me that proas of Endeh and likewise Chinese 

 "of Kiipang and persons of other places from time to time come 

 "there to trade with the natives i. e. they anchor at Wai Wau or 

 "at Aiméré and cany on their trade on the shore with the people 

 "of Mangarai and with the inhabitants of the mountains, the latter 

 "offering for sale a trifle e. g. a parang or a pair of bracelets made 

 "of tin to the merchants. The bracelets are heavy, of rude work- 

 "manship, more than a hand broad and are worn above the elbow." ^) 

 According to J. G. F. Riedel the tin is collected in Liu and Langgi 

 (read Langga) by the natives "in a mysterious manner." ^) 



Hitherto tiiere had only been question of the supposed occurrence 

 of tin in the district of Rokka. but in 1877 F. C. Heynen wrote: 

 "according to reliable reports a considerable quantity of tin is found 

 "in the territory of the Rajah of Larantuka, somewhere in Flores .. . 

 "the tin objects resembling silver gave lately to a traveller whom 

 "we met in Flores, the conviction, that the tin there is of an excel- 

 "lent quality." ") 



A request made by L. P. den Dekker d.d. Kupang July l^t 1882, 

 but not granted, to obtain the permission of prospecting in Flores, 

 the Solor and the Alor Islands fixed again the attention of Govern- 

 nient to the tin. The mandate of trying to obtain, if possible, some 



^) Verslag omtrent liel Mijnwezen in Ned. Indie voor het jacir 1872. Jaarboek 

 van het IMijnw. in Ned. Indie. Amsterdam 1873. I, p. 327. — Koloniaal Verslag 

 over 1873, p. 260. — Two years afterwards it was reported however that, on 

 account of the distrust of the population, it could not be ascertained whether the 

 territory of Rokka was really rich in tin. (Koloniaal Verslag van 1875, p. 26). 



-) lets over Endeh. Tijdschr. voor Ind. T. L. en Vk. 24. Batavia 1877, p. 515. 



'^} The island of Flores or Pulau Bunga [sic.!]. Revue coloniale internationale 1. 

 Amsterdam 1886, p. 66. 



■*) Het rijk van Larantoeka op het eiland Flores. Studiën op Godsdienstig, 

 Wetenschappelijk en Letterkundig Gebied. 8, No. 6. 'sHertogenboschl876,p.34— 35. 

 A. Jacobsen described tin bracelets of East Flores (Reise in die Inselwelt des 

 B anda-Meeres. Berlin 1896, p. 606—61). 



