374 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



[Sumatra. 



The commercial weights are the ganton, baly, and copang ; 10 gantons 

 make 1 baly, (about 00 calties, or Sl£ lbs. avoirdupois), and SO bnlies 1 co- 

 pang. By this measure rice is also sold. 



The goclack of pepper is 1 * catty, or 27 oz. avoirdupois ; but the 

 weight used by the Dutch Company is the pecul, which is equal to 

 133 lbs. avoirdupois. 



BANCA. — Tins island is nearly opposite the various months of Pal em- 

 bang River. The passage between it and Sumatra is called the Straits of 

 Banca, and extends in an undulating course about 31 leagues. Monopin 

 Hill, which answers as a guide to ships approaching the island, is in latitude 

 2° S., and longitude 1()5 7 14'E., about J2 leagues S. W. from which is 

 Min tow Point, the W. extremity of Banca. The principal town is a short 

 distance to the E. The best anchorage is in 10 or 11 fathoms, about three 

 miles off the town, Monopin Hill bearing N. lO'' E. and Mintow Point 

 N. 82 5 W. 



This island is famous for its tin mines. They are worked by a colony 

 of Chinese, consisting of upwards of 20,000 persons, under the nominal 

 direction of the Sultan of Palembang, but for the account and benefit of the 

 Dutch Company, and the Sultan is under a standing contract to furnish 

 them with the tin produced, at a fixed rate per ton ; but the enterprising 

 spirit of private merchants finds means to elude their vigilance, and the 

 annual export amounts to from 40,000 to 60,000 peculs. It is the only 

 export they possess. The island is said to produce gold and silver, but the 

 Sultan will not suffer the mines to be worked. 



Trade. — The Sultan and the Dutch Resident live at Palembang : with 

 the latter some business may be transacted ; in case he should decline trading, 

 you must endeavour to find out the agents of the Princes of Banca, and 

 those of the Caranga, or Prime Minister, who have alwavs carried on an 

 illicit trade, in opposition to the Dutch and the Sultan. Access may be had 

 to the Datoo at Mintow, on observing certain ceremonies, which the com- 

 manders of Dutch cruisers expect from strangers. It is necessary to cut 

 through some of the slabs of tin, as iron shot and stones ore often in the 

 middle of them. Opium is usually brought by the country ships frequenting 

 these Straits ; but nothing will secure tin but Spanish dollars. There is 

 another place for tin, called Yre Mass, at the N. end of Banca ; and you 

 deal chiefly with the Captain Chinaman, who resides there. 



Small ships or vessels passing through the Straits of Banca, ought 

 always to be upon their guard to repel any attack that may be made by the 

 piratical proas, numbers of which lurk about the mouths of the rivers on the 

 Coast of Sumatra, to surprise defenceless vessels. 



