DIAMONDS IN BORNEO. 27 



three places they are worked to a small extent by 

 the Chinese and Malays. 



The mines of Landak have supplied the Malays 

 with diamonds ever since their first settling on the 

 island ; those of Sangow and Banjar are more recent. 

 It is said by Sir Stamford Raffles, that " few courts 

 of Europe could perhaps boast of a more brilliant 

 display of diamonds than, in the prosperous days 

 of the Dutch, was exhibited by the ladies of 

 Batavia, the principal and only mart then opened 

 for the Bornean diamond mines." The diamonds 

 are found in a gravelly stratum, at various dis- 

 tances below the surface : in Sarawak the gravel in 

 which they are found is in some places not more than 

 six feet, in others as much as eighteen below the 

 surface. They are found in abundance in the soil, 

 but are generally small in size, though of the most 

 brilliant water. Large ones are also occasionally met 

 with, and it is said that at Sangow and Landak, dia- 

 monds of from twelve to sixteen carats are not un- 

 common. The diamond of the Sultan of Matan is 

 known to be one of the largest in the world. It is as 

 yet uncut, and weighs 367 carats, so that if cut 

 and polished it would be reduced in size to 183J 

 carats. Its value is stated by Mr. Crawfurd to be 

 269,378/., being less by 34,822/. than that of the 

 Russian diamond: and 119,773/. 10s. more than that 

 of the Pitt diamond : its present shape is that of an 

 egg indented on one side. I have been informed by 

 a person, who supposed himself to be a good judge of 

 diamonds, that the sultan possesses the real stone, 



