410 



for it, at liapliazard in a district supposed by him to contain tin- 

 ore, which was partly overlaid by volcanic formations '). 



As to his ai-gnments based on metallnrgy, it strikes us that Prof. 

 Vermaes [las deemed it unnecessary to inquire further into the matter 

 as regards tin, or he could not have written as follows: "He 

 (Wichmann) also cites what he wrote before, namely that tin-ore 

 could not be reduced by buining grass. I have often seen alang- 

 alang bui-ning, still I would not make hold to saif on metallurgical 

 arounds lühat Wichmann presumes*)". A geologist will not confine 

 himself to merely "see" an alang-alang field "bui-ning", but will 

 also tiy to watch the effect such a fire has on the components of 

 the soil under it. I myself experienced that the volcanic sand and 

 the lapilli of augite-andesite at the foot of the Batu angus baru in 

 the Alinahassa did not change a bit. Nor could anything else be 

 expected, for the grass {Imperata cylindrica Beauv.) fui-uishes such 

 an insignificant quantity of fuel that it is burnt away in a trice. 

 This short burning i)!-ocess does not even extend as far as tlie roots, 

 so that when the West Monsoon sets in, the grass begins to sprout again. 



Prof. Vekmaes continues: "We read, however, in van Schelle's 

 report: ""When the forests aie on fire, part of the ore seems to 

 be reduced . . . ."", after which Prof. Vehmaes concludes: "If, 

 therefore, a mass of tin-ore is imbedded near the surface in the 

 root-leaves of a large tree and, after felling the tree, a j)ile of 

 combustible materials is kindled at the slump, tltere is no doubt hut 

 that the tin-ore is reduced to metal')''. 



First and foremost I wish to quote a passage from P. van Diest's 

 well-known work on Bauca: "The remainders of a charcoal-furnace *) 

 are identified by the natives as the spot near which it is supposed 

 (hat tin was first discovered in Banca, that is after the burning of 

 part of the forest near the spot '). The belief in those stories is 

 negatived even more, when we reflect that the heat produced by a 

 burning pile of tree-trunks is not adequate to reduce tin-ore with- 

 out a certain amount of coal being mixed with them, especially 



1) Verslag van het onderzoek naar het voorkomen van linertshoudende gronden 

 op Flores. Extra- Bijvoegsel der Javasche Courant. Batavia 18U0. N". 10. (Uittreksel: 

 Tijdschr. voor Nederl.-lndië. Zaitbommel 1890. 2, p. 79). 



') The italics are mine. 



*) The italics are mine. 



■*■) On the Sambong giri hill near the Lindjoe mine. 



5) Tradition says this happened in 1710. (F. Epp, Schilderungen aus Archipel. 

 Indiens Heidelberg 1841, p. 134; .1. H. Croockewit. Banka, Malakka and Biliilon. 

 The Hague 1852, p. 134). 



