414 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



ship, and fired a shot; upon which they let fly all their halyards and 

 sheets. A boat was sent on board with an officer, who discovered 

 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 flat land at the foot of the isolated hills before mentioned. 

 The ore is usually found at the 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 vegetable 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 



