14. TIN MINING IN PERAK. 
“ The total revenue on tin obtained during the year under review 
amounted to 70,227 dollars on the gross quantity exported, viz., 11,088 
piculs,’* 
Mr. J. W. W. Birch, the first Resident of Perak, writing about the 
same time, that is in April, 1875, says, in reference to Perak proper :— 
“On the Kinta River, and its three or four branches, there are probably 
2000 people. This is a rapid stream like the Bidor and Batang Padang, 
and very rich in mines of tin, while at Bidor a considerable amount of gold 
‘5 mixed with the tin. The Chinese number about 2000 at Kinta, and 
1000 at each of the other rivers; while perhaps 300 are situated at the 
foot of the hills at Qualla Kangsa, about 150 miles up the river, and 
where a road exists to Larut, passing through the first large range which 
you see from the sea, close to a remarkable hill called Gunong Pondok. 
* * * * * * 
‘A royalty of 5 dollars on every bhar of tin was taken, respectively, 
by the Punghulu at the head of the Bidor and Batang Padang Rivers, 
amounting to about 500 dollars a month at each. 
% *% * * %* * 
“On all the tin in Perak the Sultan was supposed to get 11 dollars 
a bhar; but in reality he never got more than the six dollars levied at 
the Qualla. All the mines in the country which have been opened are 
supposed to have private owners, and they take 10 dollars a bhar. This 
makes the real duty taken 21 dollars, which is far more than the tin can 
pay ; the equalization of this is in train, and [ think can be easily 
arranged and reduced to a total charge of 15 dollars, of which 6 dollars, 
on the old mines, only would go to the Government, while on all new 
mines the Crown would receive the whole of 15 dollars a bhar.’’+ 
On the 2nd November, 1875, Mr. Birch was murdered at Pasir 
Salak, on the Perak River, and it was not until the beginning of 1877 
that the country began to quiet down and the opening up of the mines 
proceeded in Perak proper. Since that time the State has had no further 
internal or external troubles, and the development of its mineral resources 
has steadily progressed. 
By the Chinese method of working, to be fully explained later on, 
the water in the mines is all, or almost all, lifted by small overshot water- 
wheels and chain pumps; therefore the possibility of opening up land 
is determined by the proportion that the amount of water to be lifted 
bears to the water-power available to lift it; and the problem of how to 
increase the water-power so as to enlarge the area of the land that 
might he worked, early presented itself in Larut. Mr. P. Doyle, in Zzx 
Mining in Larut, says the want of water-power ‘‘was at one time 
considered such a great difficulty in the working of the mines that the 
apprehensions of Government were carried into the form of a proposal 
for the construction of reservoirs, for a supply to meet certain contin- 
gencies, at a cost of £25,000. It was fortunate for the country that no 
funds were available for carrying the scheme into execution, and the 
* Annual Report on Larut for the year 1874. 
+ Report from H.B.M. Resident of Perak, dated April 2nd, 1875. 
