272 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



nearness to Batavia and Singapore, and from being 

 situated upon one of the finest rivers in Borneo — the 

 Kapuas. It is built about 15 miles from the sea, at 

 the confluence of the Tambu, an affluent which rises in 

 Mount Penrisan on the Sarawak border and is note- 

 worthy as yielding diamonds. The buildings are of the 

 usual Malay type, except where owned by Europeans, 

 and the life is semi-aquatic, although in this respect it 

 presents a much less characteristic and curious sight 

 than Banjarmasin or Brunei. Each nation — ^ Dutch, 

 Malay, Chinese, Bugis, etc. — has its own quarter, and 

 the population is variously estimated at from 18,000 to 

 20,000. Coasting from Pontianak along the southern 

 seaboard, the entrances of innumerable rivers are passed, 

 all of which bring down much forest produce to the 

 villages at their mouths, where it is collected by Bugis 

 and other native traders. All these rivers have been 

 explored almost to their sources by the Dutch, but no 

 officials are stationed on their banks, except at Sampit 

 Bay, and it is not till Banjarmasin is reached that 

 civilisation reappears. 



Banjarmasin is the largest and most important city 

 in the whole of Borneo. It contains between 40,000 

 and 50,000 inhabitants, and lies at the entrance of a 

 most populous district, which has been civilised for 

 centuries, and is rich in mineral wealth, especially in 

 gold, diamonds, and coal. It is built not on the Barito 

 itself, but on an affluent, the Pdamkina or Martapura, 

 and its houses occupy the banks for a distance of two 

 miles, while the river itself is blocked, except in mid- 

 stream, by a dense pack of bamboo rafts, floating houses, 

 pile dwellings, and craft of all descriptions and sizes. 

 Here, in 1700, the English had a factory and fort, the 

 garrison of which were surprised and massacred by the 



