440 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



covered that she was manned by Malays, and that no one on board 

 could speak English; however, he managed to understand that they 

 were from Palambam, Sumatra, and bound to Singapore. Soon 

 afterwards, we saw the Dutch establishment of Mintow ; it is situated 

 on a knoll, at the northern end of Banca, and had the Dutch flag 

 flying over it. The greater part of Banca is low land; the northern 

 end particularly so. There are, however, a few detached hills, of 

 considerable altitude, which serve as sailing-marks during the passage 

 through the straits. The southern end of the island rises, and appears 

 to be of a different formation from the other parts, as its soil is thickly 

 wooded. In the forest were seen numerous clearings, where people 

 had been and were then burning charcoal, to obtain fuel for smelting 

 the tin ores. The principal mining district lies towards the southern 

 end of the island, in the swampy fiat land at the foot of the isolated 

 hills before mentioned. The ore is usually found at a depth of from 

 six to twenty feet from the surface, in layers that run horizontally for 

 two or three miles ; these vary in thickness from six to twenty inches, 

 and consist of heavy granulated particles, of a dark metallic lustre, 

 mixed with white sand. The strata above the vein consists of vege- 

 table mould, red and white clay, intermixed with pebbles of white 

 quartz, and white sand, like that which is found with the metal. A 

 stratum of steatite is said to be found underlying these ores of tin. 



The process of working these mines is exceedingly rude ; both 

 Malays and Chinese are employed in them, but the latter are pre- 

 ferred on account of their greater perseverance and industry. I was 

 told at Singapore that the amount of tin derived from Banca by the 

 Dutch, was not half so great as that obtained while it was under 

 British management, or that it is still capable of yielding. The ore 

 is washed after its removal from the veins, which separates the earth, 

 and leaves only the metal and stones ; the last are separated by hand, 

 and the metal is then smelted : to effect this, huge piles of alternate 

 layers of ore and charcoal are formed ; the fused metal escapes into 

 a hole dug in the ground, from which it is dipped and poured into 

 moulds, forming, when cool, the tin of commerce. Tin ore is found 

 at Banca in great quantities, but its quality is inferior to that obtained 

 from other places ; and it rarely yields more than sixty per cent, of 

 pure metal. The process of smelting is but seldom performed, gene- 

 rally not oftener than once or twice a year. Rude bellows of various 

 forms are used in kindling the smelting fires ; some of these are com- 

 posed of large wooden cylinders with moving pistons, which give a 



