BORNEO 247 



near Bau in 1881, and in the following year some 1400 

 tons of ore, valued at over £13,000, were raised, but tlie 

 vein rapidly became exhausted. 



It is, however, for gold and diamonds that Borneo is 

 most celebrated. There are said to be few rivers in the 

 island which are not auriferous. The metal is obtained 

 almost entirely from river-washing or the drift gravel, and 

 is chiefly worked by the Chinese, who have established 

 themselves in the chief gold district for some centuries, 

 especially about Sambas — this region being now 

 generally known as the " Chinese Districts." Their 

 powerful co-operative unions enabled them to render 

 themselves independent of the native princes, and it cost 

 the Dutch in 1850 a war of four years' duration to 

 subdue them. It is here, in certain places in West 

 Sarawak, in the valleys between the spurs of the Tana 

 Laut range in the south-east and in the basin of 

 the Kahayan, and on the Segama river in North Borneo, 

 that gold occurs most plentifully. But, on the whole, 

 although there must be large fields at present un- 

 discovered, the output of the precious metal is not great, 

 and it chiefly serves as the means of livehhood for large 

 numbers of Chinese. What the actual amount may be 

 is not known, but there is no doubt that it has of late 

 decreased considerably. Diamonds are likewise very 

 widely distributed, but they are chiefly found in the 

 richest gold districts. The yield, like that of gold, is 

 much less than in former years, but in the early part of 

 the century it was considerable. Several diamonds of 

 60 or 70 carats, according to Dr. Posewitz, have been 

 known to have been found, and many of the ]\Ialay 

 Sultans and Piajas possess stones of large size. The art 

 of diamond-cutting has been long know^n, and is carried 

 on in many places both in South and West Borneo. It 



