BANGKA. 117 



Both in tlie towns and rural districts these Chinese are divided into two distinct 

 nations, each with its " captain," — the Chinese of Canton and those of Amoy, the 

 latter contrasting favourably with the former for their peaceful habits, love of work, 

 and sobrietj^ 



This steady inflow of the " Celestials " is due to the development of trade, 

 which is much more active in the Riouw than in the Lingga archipelago. The 

 Chinese are here also occupied with the cultivation of gambir, of which Riouw has 

 practically the monopoly. This product, called also term Japonica and catechu, is 

 obtained from a decoction of the leaves of the uncaria, or uauclea gamhiroi botanists. 

 The island of Bintan alone yields about sixteen million pounds yearly, forwarded 

 chiefly to Batavia, Macassar, and Banjermassin, where it is used in the preparation 

 of betel. Eiouw is also one of the most important pepper-growing regions in 

 Indonesia. 



Some places have also deposits of tin, amongst others the two Karimon islets 

 in the Strait of Malacca, and the large island of Singkep, in the southern archipelago 

 south of Lingga. The straits 3deld large quantities of holothuriansandof the agar- 

 agar {fucus saccharinus), for which Chinese epicures pay a high price. 



Riouw, capital of the archipelagoes, and, till recently, of the East Sumatran 

 Residency, is situated in the islet of Tanjang Pinaug, close to the west side of Bin- 

 tang, largest member of these insular groups. The town, whose name is often 

 extended to the two adjacent islands, stands on the east side of the Riouw Strait, 

 the Bhio of the English charts. It comprises several distinct quarters, stretching 

 around a shallow roadstead; which, however, is well sheltered from all winds by the 

 adjacent islets of Mars and Sengarang. Although declared a free port in 1828, 

 Biouw has not been able to compete with its British neighbour Singapore, to which 

 vast emporium it sends the tribute of all its exports by a regular line of steamers. 



Bangka. 



The large island of Bangka, with an area of about five thousand square miles, 

 and administratively constituting a Residency of itself, might seem at first sight 

 to form a mere geographical dependence of Sumatra. JN^evertheless it is entirely 

 distinct from that region in its geographical constitution, forming, like the Riouw 

 and Lingga groups, a fragmentary extension of the Malay peninsula. It is also 

 disposed in precisely the same direction, from north-west to south-east, parallel with 

 the main axis of Sumatra. The corresj)onding series of convex and concave curves 

 presented by both sides of the tortuous and shallow strait separating Bangka from 

 the alluvial lands of Palembang, is due not to a rupture produced between rocks 

 of identical formation, but to the action of the alternating marine currents imi- 

 formly distributing the sedimentary matter brought down by the Palembang 

 rivers. 



Unlike Sumatra, Bangka has neither volcanoes nor igneous rocks, and is almost 

 destitute even of thermal springs. The chief formations are granites, quartz, feld- 

 spars, thrown together without any apparent regularity. The undulating hills are 



