8C1 



BANCA. 



BANCA. 



863 



are not only sold in the town and neighbourhood, but sent to con- 

 siderable distances. They have been exported to America, Australia, 

 and India. The Banbury cheese, which Shakspere and Burton mention, 

 is believed to be no longer made ; though a peculiar kind of rich 

 cream-cheese is still made in the neighbourhood of Baubury at a late 

 season of the year, whence it is known as ' latter-made cheese,' and 

 fetches a high price. Mr. Beesley, who thinks this is probably the 

 famous old Banbury cheese, suggests that it was perhaps originally 

 called 'latter math' cheese, "as being from the rich after-math." 



Banbury is situated in a valley almost entirely surrounded with 

 rising ground ; most of the streets are very wide and airy. Several of 

 the principal streets run in a line from north to south, and are crossed 

 liy others running from west to east. There were formerly bars or 

 gates at the terminations. In 1628 more than one-third of the town 

 was destroyed by fire. Banbury long proverbial for its dirt has been 

 much improved under the operation of an act passed in 1825 for 

 paving, lighting, &c. The footpaths are well paved with Yorkshire 

 flagstones, and the town is amply lighted with gas. The town-hall is 

 a mean and insufficient modern building ; the town jail on the con- 

 trary i old and rather handsome. The old church, a very large and 

 remarkably handsome edifice of various dates and styles, from 

 Norman to perpendicular, was taken down by act of Parliament in 

 1790, and the ancient monuments wholly destroyed. The new build- 

 ing has been a very expensive one. In addition to the sums arising 

 from the sale of the church lands and houses, and the materials of the 

 old fabric, together with two large subscriptions, an annual rate 

 amounting to 5501. 3s., has been made since 1790, and still continues. 

 The present church is spacious, the part used for divine service being 

 90 feet square within, and capable of accommodating 2300 persons. 

 It was opened for divine service in 1797, but the tower and portico 

 were not completed till 1822. It is an extremely ugly specimen of a 

 so-called classic pile. There are in Banbury meeting-houses belonging 

 to the Independents, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, Unitarians, 

 Human Catholics, Particular Baptists, &c. Formerly an hospital 

 dedicated to St. John stood near the southern entrance to the town ; 

 the remains of this building were long used as a barn, but have been 

 converted into a private residence. Another hospital dedicated to St. 

 Leonard stood on the left side of the Cherwell, in the hamlet of 

 Nethercot ; and there was in Banbury a religious foundation, called 

 St. Mary's, the particulars concerning which are not well known. In 

 a field adjacent to the southern entrance to the town is an ancient 

 earth-work. In the town are several fine old half-timber houses, some 

 of which exhibit curious examples of the plaster-work or pargetting 

 of the Elizabethan age. 



Banbury Blue-Coat School was established in 1705, for boys and 

 girls. In 1817 it waa incorporated with the then newly-established 

 National schools for boys and girls ; but the funds are kept separate, 

 and are partly applied to clothing 16 boys and 12 girls, elected on the 

 Blue-Coat foundation. There is also a British school. There are in 

 the town two charitable societies, a savings bank, a library, a mechanics 

 institute, and other useful and benevolent institutions. The excellent 

 old Grammar school, kept in a building adjoining the churchyard, was 

 long ago suffered to fall into disuse. 



The criminal jurisdiction of the borough extends to capital 

 offences, but no instance of an execution has occurred since 1747. 

 The magistrates hold a petty sessions every Monday ; and general 

 sessions, at which the recorder or his deputy must preside, are held 

 twice in the year. There are the remains of several British settle- 

 ments and fortifications in the neighbourhood of Banbury ; and at 

 Rollrich, 11 miles S.W. from the town, on the ridge of the range of 

 hills which bound Oxfordshire on the north, are the remains of stone 

 circles, cromlechs, and other primaeval British antiquities. The chief 

 circle, now very imperfect, is 104 feet in diameter. 



(Beesley's Jlittory of Banbury ; Correspondent at Banbury.) 



BANCA, an island in the Indian Ocean lying off the north coast 

 of Sumatra near to its eastern extremity, from which it is separated 

 by the Strait of Banca. The island measures in its greatest length 

 from N.W. to S.E. 135 miles, and in ita broadest part 65 miles. The 

 surface contains 7533 square miles. It lies between 1 30' and 3 8' 

 8. lat., 105" 9' and 106 51' E. long. Banca was formerly a dependency 

 of the sultans of Palembang in Sumatra, but in 1812 it was formally 

 ceded to the British East India Company. On the 2nd of December, 

 1816, the island was ceded to the Dutch in exchange for the settle- 

 ment of Cochin on the Malabar coast. 



This island does not contain any continued chain of mountains, but 

 in every part are found short ranges of lofty hills. The highest 

 mountain called Qoonoong-Maras, and estimated at 3000 feet above 

 the level of the sea, is situated about two miles from the bottom of 

 Klabat Bay, a considerable inlet on the north side of the island. 

 Manopin Hill, called by the natives Uoonoong-Manumbling, which is 

 situated at the western extremity of the island, is 1500 feet high, and 

 forms an excellent landmark to navigators for the entrance to Banca 

 Strait. Many of the hills have conical summits. The whole of 

 Banca i abundantly supplied with water of good quality. None of 

 the rivers are navigable for any but very small vessels, in consequence 

 of the sand-banks by which their cutrances^are obstructed. 



Klabat Bay which would otherwise form an excellent harbour for 

 hipping, and would besides afford means of access to some distance 



inland from the north coast, cannot be used for these purposes in 

 consequence of the numerous rocks and shallows which occur in every 

 part. 



It is no doubt owing to the dread of pirates, from whose ravages 

 the population formerly suffered greatly, that no habitations are to be 

 seen on any part of the coast. The villages are all situated several 

 milea up the rivers. The pirates here mentioned had their haunts in 

 the adjacent islands of Lingen and Billitou, and on the west coast of 

 Borneo. The principal settlement, which indeed is the only place that 

 can be called a town on the island, is Mintok or Miuto near the western 

 entrance of the Strait of Banca : it stands on the bank of a small 

 river which takes its rise from Manopiu Hill. The foreign trade of the 

 island is confined to this the principal port. 



Banca derives all its importance in a commercial point of view from 

 its tin-mines, which were first discovered in 1710, and have since 

 yielded immense quantities of ore; they appear in fact to be 

 inexhaustible. The geological 'formation of the island is a primitive 

 rock, the principal mountains being granite, and those of inferior 

 elevation being formed of red iron-stone ; it is in the level ground 

 between these rocks that the tin is generally found in alluvial deposits, 

 seldom lower than 25 feet from the surface. The existence of tin has 

 been ascertained in all the alluvial tracts, from one extremity of the 

 island to the other. The ore is found in horizontal strata in the form 

 of an oxide, and is generally intermixed with white sand and clay. 

 After being washed in the nearest mountain stream it is smelted, and 

 yields in various proportions from 30 to 70 Ibs. of tin for every 

 100 Ibs. of ore. Since the time of their first discovery, the tin- 

 mines of Banca have been worked by Chinese, whose numbers have 

 been annually recruited. The collections of tin made during the 

 occupation of the island by the East India Company averaged some- 

 what less than 3,000,000 Ibs. annually. The profit derived from the 

 sale of tin in those years more than provided for all the charges of 

 government on the island. Since the transfer of the island to Holland, 

 the supply of tin from its mines has been augmented. The Dutch are 

 said now to export 3500 tons of tin annually. After fully supplying the 

 markets of China (where Banca tin is preferred to European), t and 

 India, a large quantity is annually brought to Europe, where it has 

 consequently lessened the demand for the tin of Cornwall. 



Except during the four months, from May to August inclusive, 

 when the south-east monsoon blows, rains are very frequent on the 

 island, especially from November to February inclusive, which is the 

 season of the north-west monsoon. In the other four months of the 

 year the weather is unsettled and squally. Thunder-storms are fre- 

 quent, and lightning is observable on half the evenings during the 

 year. 



The climate of Banca is generally healthy ; but some spots are of a 

 different character. In the interior the action of the sun upon tho 

 gravelly soil renders the heat oppressive during tho day, but the nights 

 are usually cooL The thermometer varies from 78 to 84; and 

 scarcely ever exceeds 88 in the shade. 



There are various kinds of fine timber in the woods, some of which 

 are employed in building. Ebony is abundant on the north coast. 

 Large quantities of this wood are sent to Palembang for sale to Chiueso 

 traders. 



The only quadrupeds found in a state of nature are deer and wild 

 hogs ; and these are not numerous. Insects are very numerous, and 

 there is an abundance of snakes, some of which are venomous. Fish 

 and pork are pretty abundant on the island ; other kinds of animal 

 food and some fruits are conveyed from the opposite coast of Sumatra. 

 Some rice is grown in the interior, but not sufficient for the consump- 

 tion ; and large quantities are imported every year by the government. 



The population of Banca, consisting of Malaya, Chinese, and indi- 

 genous islanders, amounted to 13,413 whilst the island was in the 

 hands of the East India Company. Under the Dutch the number of 

 inhabitants has greatly increased; in 1849 it amounted to 43,000. 

 Almost all the laborious occupations are performed by the Chinese, 

 the Malays being extremely indolent, and the Orang Goonoongs living 

 dispersed over large tracts of country in the interior, nearly in a state 

 of nature, and averse to all restraint or habits of settled industry. 



Between Banca and Sumatra is Banca Strait : between Bauca and 

 Billiton is Gaspar Strait. BancaStrait extends from north-west to south- 

 east about 90 miles, with a width varying from 10 to 20 miles. The 

 shores are low and backed by a forest country. The strait is dangerous 

 in stormy weather, owing to coral reefs concealed by the water. The 

 depth in some places is only from 7 to 12 fathoms. Ships generally 

 make this strait With the south-east monsoon. Gaspar Strait is 35 

 miles across at its widest part. It is divided into two channels by a small 

 island, situated in 2 49' S. lat., 107 4' E. long. The eastern channel 

 is sometimes called Clement's Strait. Gaspar Island, to the north of 

 Gaspar Strait, is in 2 21' S. lat., 106 20' E. long. In tho central 

 part of Clement's Channel there are several small islands ; and in tho 

 whole strait there are many rocks and shoals. Tho depth of water 

 varies from 4 to 25 fathoms, and there are several good anchorages. 

 Vessels homeward bound from China traverse the western channel of 

 Gaspar Strait in preference to Banca Strait in making for the Strait of 

 Sunda. The navigation is rather dangerous, but less so than that of 

 Banca Strait. 



(Marsden's Sumatra; Raines's Java; Stavorinus's Voyage*; Court's 



