6 TIN MINING IN PERAK. 
mated to be only 400 Chinese tin miners in the State. The bulk of the 
tin must therefore at that time have been raised by the Malays. 
Perak was taken possession of by Kedah, acting under the orders 
of the King of Siam, in September, 1818, but the Siamese were driven 
out again by the Raja of Selangor in 1822, who put Tajudin on the 
throne. After the conquest of Kedah in 1822, the Siamese re-took 
Perak, and were again expelled in 1826, in consequence of the treaty 
made between England and Siam. Lieutenant-Colonel James Low took 
a party of sepoys up the Perak river in the Antelope and the Zephyr in 
October, 1826, to force the Siamese, who were encamped on the north 
bank of the river, to evacuate the country. 
Colonel Low, who was about a month in the State, makes the 
following interesting observations on the tin mines of Perak. 
“Tin, which is exchanged by the miners for goods at the rate of 
30 dollars per bhar, and of which two thousand bhars might be afforded 
yearly. The goods most in request are blue cloth of cotton, Acheen 
dresses, opium, tobacco, salt, salt-fish, gambier and minor articles. The 
richest mines lie at the sources of the small streams which feed the 
main river, and these rise in the high range of mountains which stretch 
nearly north and south about from forty to fifty miles inland. 
‘They work the mines all the year; it is not until after the harvest 
has been housed that the agriculturists commence mining operations. 
‘The tin is gathered by both sexes, and persons of all ages. They 
work from 5 a.m. to 10 and from 3 p.m. till 6. Sometimes the concern 
is a general one, and is divided into shares of fifteen dollars each. But 
in this calculation of the produce of tin, reference has only been had to 
the quantity yielded in quiet times. Should much encouragement be 
given to Chinese and other settlers, no limit can be fixed to it. 
w * * * * * 
“The chief mines are as follows. At Budara, Bukkan, Sayong, 
Chekoos (where gold is also procured), Soongkie Beedok, where tin is 
dug on the plain. Kampa, Patoong Padang [Batang Padang], where 
some gold-dust is also obtained. The country is represented as flat. 
Chandariang, the ore is bartered, and is afterwards smelted by the 
Chinese. The next place is Riah, where fine ore is dug out of the plain. 
Kampa, Kantar, where the ore is dug at the foot of the hills, but on the 
plain. 
* % * % * 
“With respect to the localities of the river, it may be stated that 
two streams branch off from the east bank, one called Kwalah Bidor, 
betwixt the anchorage for vessels and Bandar, and the other Kantoor, 
opposite to Rantau Panjang and above Bandar. Kwalah Bidor leads 
by a difficult canoe navigation of five or six days up to Bidor. Here a 
population of from three hundred to four hundred persons used to be 
employed in mining for tin-ore, which is heavy and rich. 
“The Kantoor separates itself into four branches at a distance of a 
few miles above its conflux with the main river. These are Chandarang, 
Soongei Keah [S. Riah], Kampa and Kantar. 
