140 AUSTEAI.ASIA. 



and backwaters. Here the Barito is joined by the Martapura, on which stands 

 Banjermassin, the " Venice of Borneo," whose carved wooden houses line both 

 banks for a space of over 2 miles. But these land residences are nearly every- 

 where concealed by the rakits, or floating structures, anchored in mid-stream. The 

 river is also animated by craft of all kinds, boats, canoes, gondolas, decked praus 

 with raised cabins darting about in all directions. 



The Dutch occupy the island of Tatas, surrounded by the Malay and Chinese 

 quarters, for all have their special districts, even the monkeys, who occupy the 

 Isle of Flowers, where they receive the attentions of the natives. Banjermassin, 

 which is accessible to vessels drawing 15 or 16 feet, is one of the busiest of the 

 secondary ports in the Eastern Archipelago. Till recently it largely exported 

 diamonds collected on the banks of the Martapura ; but since the discovery of the 

 Cape mines this trade has ceased to be profitable, especially as the Sultan claims 

 all stones of more than five carats. Yet such was the reputation of the Banjer- 

 massin market that the local Chinese dealers imported crystals from the Cape to 

 be afterwards exported as Martapura diamonds. In this district is also collected 

 much gold dust, and the Faiigaron coal mines above Martapura were lately yield- 

 ing a yearly output of over 10,000 tons. Martapura was formerly the capital of 

 the State, and the Sultan has still a palace in the place ; it lies 30 miles above and 

 to the east of Banjermassin. 



The most thickly peopled and civilized region in Borneo is the basin of the 

 river Bahan or Negara, where the Hindus appear to have first settled. Since the 

 middle of the century the population of this small fluvial valley rose from 

 60,000 to over 300,000 in 1878 ; consequently this part of Borneo is now rela- 

 tively as densely inhabited as Java. Anmntai on the left bank of the Bahan? 

 Negara and Margamri lower down on both banks, are all large trading and indus- 

 trial places. The armourers of Negara were famous throughout Indonesia before 

 the manufacture of arms was suppressed by the Dutch ; but the district still 

 produces all the earthenware used in the country. 



Farther east some Javanese immigrants cultivate the fertile plains of the Ken- 

 dangan district, on the banks of the beautiful Amandit river. The new town of 

 Mmvara-Bahan, or Marahahan (Bekompai), at the junction of the Bahan and Barito, 

 is the outport of the trade of Banjermassin with the Bahan basin. Its population is 

 rapidly increasing, thanks to the sjDread of Islam amongst the surrounding Dayak 

 tribes. Higher up, the only important place in the thinly peopled upper Barito 

 valley is the village of Lntuntur [Lokhton Tiior), at the Teweh confluence, 200 

 miles from the coast. 



The various petty states on the south-east coastlands are still semi-independent. 

 Pasir, capital of one of these states, is one of the chief places in Borneo. Lying 

 at the head of a delta navigable by small craft, Pasir, or the " Sands," as it is named 

 from the surrounding dunes, carries on a brisk trade with the opposite coasts of 

 Celebes, whence it has received numerous immigrants. 



Several important towns follow along the lower course of the Mahakkam in the 

 kingdom of Kutei, which since 1844 has been half subject to the Dutch. Tangarungy 



