198 THE METALLIFEROUS FORMATION OF THE PENINSULA, 



crossing a range of hills, I came upon different parts of the 

 country, where the slate formation cropped up with a very 

 slight dip out of the perpendicular, close to the granite, and 

 which reminded me very forcibly of similar formations in the 

 gold-bearing districts of Australia. 



On enquiry, the Malays stated there had been gold allu- 

 vial deposits at the base of these hills, and that there were 

 still some Chinamen washing stream-gold. I obtained some 

 of the gold in dust, and it presented a coarse, scaly appear- 

 ance which evidently showed that it had not travelled far 

 after having been shed from the matrix ; and confirmed an 

 opinion that I had formed that all the mineral deposits of gold 

 and tin in the Malay Peninsula are a recent granite or mi- 

 caceous detritus. 



These detrital deposits might be followed up by an ex- 

 ploring prospecting party, armed with boring tools ; and by 

 boring through the quartz veins that pierce the granite, the 

 original lode or valuable leaders might be uncovered. 



I am informed that there are two places, namely Ulu 

 Slini on the borders of Selangor and Perak, and the Batang 

 Padang District in Perak, where the tin is found in large 

 blocks of stone which are rolled down the hill side. These 

 must be very close to the main lode and would be good start- 

 ing points for a prospecting party. 



The Chinaman is given to gambling, and a large population 

 of Chinese indulge their taste in seeking out patches of allu- 

 vial tin, moving along the base of the hills from place to 

 place, and gaining a very uncertain amount of success. This 

 state of things will continue until the original lode is searched 

 for, when the reckless speculation in alluvial gold and tin will 

 be succeeded by a more certain and legitimate system of min- 

 ing, and the prosperity of the Malayan Peninsula will rest 

 on a more solid basis. 



