or GOLD. 157 



which the under mats are seen ; but in fine and larger 

 sets two or three of the upper ones are generally 

 similar to the small ones above described : they are 

 very expensive in Sarawak, but this is on account of 

 their rarity, and I presume that a fine set in the 

 islands would not be very costly. This manufac- 

 ture seems to be carried on in no other part of the 

 Archipelago, and the produce of these islands is gene- 

 rally seized by the Rajah of Lingin, in the Straits of 

 Rhio, who, on the ground of his unjust title to the 

 kingdom of Johore, claims the sovereignty of these 

 islands. They export to Sarawak numbers of mats 

 made of the same material as those above described, 

 but without the open work ; these are sold for about 

 one rupee each. 



It would have been reasonable to suppose that 

 where gold is so plentiful and so highly valued, and 

 much used as an ornament, that the natives themselves 

 would have been at least as clever in the manufacture 

 of it as the Sumatrans and Javanese, but it does not 

 seem that they have ever even attempted themselves 

 to form it into ornaments, but trust entirely to foreign 

 nations for their supply of artisans in the precious 

 metals. Some of the Borneans were workers in gold, 

 but their masterpieces were of the coarsest description, 

 seldom exceeding in beauty the productions of the 

 Sea Dyaks. The Javanese carry on this profitable 

 trade at Sarawak, but these do not equal the gold- 

 smiths of Sumatra, and are ignorant of the manufac- 

 ture of the beautiful filligree work of that island, so 

 much valued in former times in England. The orna- 



