28 DISTRIBUTION OF MINERALS IN SARAWAK.. 



these samples being* procured under difficulties as to working 

 appliances and carriage, did not fairly represent the condition 

 in which the mineral would by put into the market after mining 

 operations had been regularly opened, and therefore the results 

 obtained are all the 



Diamond : Aquamarine. — There is some reason for believing 

 that the diamondiferous deposits of Sarawak are more valuable 

 than has yet appeared to be the case. No systematic operations 

 in the search for these precious stones have ever been carried on 

 in the country. The only people who pursue diamond-washing 

 as a means of livelihood are the poorer Malays, who are mostly 

 gamblers, and carry on their work in a way very desultory and 

 imperfect. Mr. Gray, who arrived in Sarawak last year with 

 all necessary appliances for this kind of mining, and who had 

 three years previous experience at the Cape fields, commenced 

 operations in the Sen tali river, but relinquished the attempt as 

 unprofitable after an essay of ten days' or a fortnight's duration. 

 I have been informed that in the opinion of the native diamond- 

 washers, this gentleman never reached the true gem-bearing 

 stratum ; which may or may not have been the case. However 

 this may be, a two weeks'* exporation cannot be considered very 

 satisfactory. One frequently hears of stones of good size and 

 water being disposed or in Singapore as coming from Sarawak, 

 and some are to be seen in Kuching now. They not seldom ex- 

 hibit a pure lemon-yellow tinge, which is different from the straw 

 colour of the Cape, and more valued. The large dimond (76J 

 carats), brought over from M'rau in the Sikaiam dirtrict of 

 Dutch Borneo a year or two ago, is proof that stones of very 

 considerable size are to be found in the island. 



The Sentah is a tributary of the Penrissen branch of the 

 Sarawak river. It is from this branch that Aquamarines are 

 brought to Kuching. They seem to be very rare, and the only 

 one which has come under my own notice was a mass of flaws, 

 and useless as a gem. 



To sum up the preceding notes. Of the known minerals of 

 Sarawak, Antimony and Cinnabar are the only ores that have 

 been explored on a large scale ; of these, the difficulty of obtain- 

 ing the first in remunerative quantity is daily increasing, while 

 the yield of the second, at no time extraordinary, is capricious 

 in the extreme. Arsenic, Gold, and Diamond have either proved 

 failures, or do not tempt European ca^ ital. Coal has been tried 

 and found wanting; but later discoveries with respect to its 

 extent and quality, justify a some what confident belief that the 



