310 ON MINES AND MINERS IN KINTA, PERAK. 
is alive and has many of the properties of living matter, that 
of its own volition it can move from place to place, that it 
can reproduce itself, and that it has special likes—or perhaps 
affinities—for certain people and things and _ vice-versd. 
Hence it is advisable to treat tin-ore with a certain amount of 
respect, to consult its convenience, and what is, perhaps, 
more curious, to conduct the business of mining in such a 
way that the tin ore may, as it were, be obtained without its 
own knowledge! 
I append a vocabulary consisting of a few Malay words 
which are more particularly connected with mines and miners. 
The language is so susceptible of change that, unless a record 
is kept of such terms, they may, perhaps as the method of 
working alter, be entirely lost. As it is, I imagine that the 
majority of these words and expressions (being technical ) 
have never as yet found their way into any dictionary. 
Ambil,-or Tanah Ambil.—The ore-bearing drift, which 
Chinese miners call karang. 
Ambil gunong.—The upper beds of drift. 
Ambil gabor.—The middle beds of drift. 
Ambil besar.—The lower beds of drift. 
Ambil bijii—The process of sluicing after the tin-bearing 
drift has been thrown into the races. (See 
ast parit. ) 
The following is the order of the respective 
processes included under this term. 1. 
Mengumbei. 2. Melongga parit. 3. Meraga 
batu. 4. Bertunda. 5. Ber-panggul. 6. HMa- 
long. 7 Pandei (for explanation see these 
words). 
Ampang.—A dam. 
Anak Kélian—Malay miners who are liable to pay a tax to 
the mine-owner. 
Ancha.—A square frame 1’ 6” x 1’ 6”, composed of strips 
of split bamboo for the floor and four pieces 
