524 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



where there is an outcropping of coal in tlie river 

 bank. The coal found there is very light, almost as 

 soft as charcoal, and evidently of a very recent geolo- 

 gical age. A similar but somewhat better coal is 

 found five or six miles farther up this river. At 

 Karang Tingi, three miles up the river from Muara 

 Inem, the rajah of that district gave me a bottle of 

 petroleum, which is about as thick as tar, and, ac- 

 cording to the examinations of the Dutch chemists, 

 does not contain much paraffine, naphtha, nor material 

 suitable for burning in lamps. It is found about six 

 miles back from the river. At Karang Tingi we no- 

 ticed a number of boys enjoying an odd kind of 

 sport. They were sliding down the high slippery 

 bank on their naked backs. 



At Muara Inem the controleur showed me a large 

 garden filled with trees, from which the " palm-oil " 

 is manufactured. It is a low palm, and the fruit is 

 not much larger than the betel-nut. I understood 

 him to say that it was the Elais Guineensis, and had 

 been introduced from the Dutch possessions on the 

 west coast of Africa. The oil is contained in the 

 husk, and is used in manufacturing soap and candles. 



May 6th. — ^Very early this morning started with 

 the controleur down the Limatang in his barge, with 

 twenty men. During last night the river rose here 

 four or five feet, and the current is now unusually 

 strong. From Muara Inem, to where it empties into 

 the Musi, it is very crooked, constantly bending to the 

 right in nearly equal curves, the current, of course, be- 

 ing strongest in the middle of each bend. This con- 

 stant curving gives an endless variety to its scenery. 



