524 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



where tliere is an outcropping of coal in the river 

 bank. The coal found tliere is very light, almost as 

 soft as chai'coal, and evidently of a veiy recent geolo- 

 gical age* A similar but somewhat better coal is 

 found five or six miles farther up this river. At 

 Karang Tingi, three miles up the river from Mnara 

 Inem, the rajah of that district gave me a bottle of 

 petroleum, which is about as thick as tar^ and, ac- 

 cording to the examinations of the Dutch chemists, 

 does not contain much paraffine, naphtha, nor material 

 suitable for burning in lamps. It is found about six 

 miles back from the river. At Kai-ang Tingi we no- 

 ticed a number of boys enjoying an odd kind of 

 sport. They were sliding down the high slippery 

 bank on theu* naked backs. 



. At Muara Inem the controhur showed me a large 

 garden filled with trees, from which the " palm-oil " 

 is manufactured. It is a low palm, and the fruit is 

 not much larger than the betel-nut. I imdersfcood 

 him to say that it was the J^uis G^iimeumSj and had 

 been introduced from the Butch possessions on the 

 west coast of Africa, The 'oil is contained in the 

 husk, and is used in manufacturing soap and candles. 



May 6^A.— Veiy early this morning started with 

 the controleitr down the Limatang in his barge, with 

 twenty men. During last night the river rose here 

 four or five feet, and the current is now unusually 

 stoong. From Muara Inem, to where it empties into 

 the Musi, it is veiy crooked, constantly bending to the 

 right in nearly equal curves, the current, of course, be- 

 ing strongest in the middle of each bend. This con- 

 stant cursing gives an endless variety to its scenery. 



