Natural Hi story. 413 



than 3,000 tons of the metal are raised at Banca and Lingin, 

 the greater part of which is carried to China. It is preferred 

 there to the Cornish tin, which is imported by the East India 

 Company. In 1813, 150 tons of Banca tin, which were not 

 disposed of in China, were imported into England by the Com- 

 pany with great advantage. 



The difference of price which exists between the tin of 

 Cornwall and of the East Indies in the East, depends on the 

 great richness of the Banca mine, and the facility of working it. 

 No expensive machines are employed in the operation, and 

 though the mines have been in full work for many centuries, 

 still access to the unexhausted parts is very easy. The works 

 are carried on by a Chinese colony established at Banca. 



Some authors say, that the Banca mines were discovered only 

 about the year 1710 or 1712; but the Portuguese in their first 

 expeditions found the ships of the country laden with this 

 metal, and it is known that the Arabs carried it to China in the 

 ninth century. 



In many of the Malay ports, where ships resort to purchase 

 tin, it is usual to run it over again, for it is sometimes offered 

 for sale full of stones and dust. The instrument they use is a 

 broad cast-iron pan, of Chinese manufacture, called a tachf. 

 Wood is the combustible used, and the fire-place is as rude 

 as possible. At Junck-Ceylon the mineral is pounded in 

 mortars of wood by pestles shod with iron ; these are fixed to a 

 lever seven or eight feet long, which is moved by a man with 

 his feet. Before reducing it to powder, the mineral is stratified 

 with small wood, and roasted in pits made in the earth. A 

 considerable quantity of pure tin is obtained by the first 

 process. 



The mines very often have naturally the form of large caves, 

 which very much facilitate the removal of the ore; and, after 

 its abundance, is an important cause of the cheapness of 

 the metal. The men who are employed to melt the metal at 

 Quidah receive three dollars per month, and their food, which is 

 worth about a dollar and a half per month : one with the other 

 they get rather less than a shilling a day. 



