JOURNAL 



ASIATIC SOCIETY 



Report on the Tin of the Province of Mergui. By Captain G. B. 

 Tremenheere, Executive Engineer, Tenasserim Division. 



1. The tin of this province has not been sought for since the Burmese 

 took possession of the country from their Siamese neighbours. Under 

 the rule of the latter, or during the period at which Tenasserim was 

 an independent state, extensive works for tin were carried on. It 

 occurs chiefly in the beds and banks of streams issuing from the 

 primitive mountains, which form the principal feature of this peninsula ; 

 portions of the banks of streams in which it is found are, in some 

 instances, rivetted with rough stone-work, to confine the water for 

 washing operations ; and the ground on either side, for many miles 

 along their course, is penetrated by innumerable pits, from eight to 

 ten and twelve feet deep. Traces of the work of many thousands 

 of men are evident in several places. These pits are not connected 

 with one another, but seem to have been sunk by separate small 

 parties of men, to whom probably definite tasks were assigned, with 

 a view of tracing the tin ground, and of extracting the gravel with 

 which the tin is mixed. 



Their variable depth, and the amount of labour expended on them, 

 is a tolerable indication of the success with which this has been 

 pursued, and of the places in which ground might be again perhaps 

 opened with advantage. 



2. The streams themselves are rich in tin, which may be collected 

 from their beds in considerable quantities. The process by which 

 it has been deposited for long periods, and for many miles along 

 No. 119. New Series, No. 35. 5 p 



