644 S U M A T R A* 
an anvi] ; and I have fecn a pair of compares, compofed of two old na'ils 
tied together at one end. The gold is melted in a piece of a preioo or 
earthen rice pbt^, or fometinlefg a erucibte of their owh make^ of of* 
dinary clay. In getTeml they ufe no bellcp.vs, but t>lci.v the fire with 
their mouths, through a joint of bambob, and if the quantity of metal 
to be iiieked is confidierable, three or £»ur perfans round their fur- 
nace; which is an old broken ^/Sf^ or iroa pot ; a .d blow together^ 
At Pada -g alone, where the manufacture is more confiderable, they hav« 
adopted the Chinele bellovvs. Their mLthott of drawing the wire, dS* 
fers but little from that uicd by Euro^iean. workman ► W hen drawit to- 
ft fisfficient finenefi, th^y flactca it, by beating it on their anvil > and 
when flattened they g*we it a twlft, like that in the whalebone handle of 
a punchladle^ by rubbing it on a block of wood, with a flit llkk. Af- 
ter twifting they again beat it on the anvU^, and by thcfe means it be- 
comes flat wire with inderrted edges* With a pair of nippers they fold 
down the end of this wire, and thus foriii a leaf, or element of a flower 
in their work, which is cutoff. Tne end is again folded and cut off^, 
till they have got a fufficient number of leaves, which are all laid on 
fingly* Pktterns of the flowers or foliage, in which there is not very 
much variety, are prepared on paper, of the fize of the gold plate on 
which the fiUagree is- to be laid. According to this, they begin to dif- 
pofe on tht plate, the larger compurtmcnts of the foliage, for which 
they ufe plain flat wire of a larger fize, and fill them up w^ith the leaves 
before mentioned. To fix their work they employ a glutinous fubftance^ 
made of the red berry called hooa Jng6^ ground to a pulp, on a rough 
ftone. This pulp they place on a young coconut, about the fize of a 
walnut, the top and bottom being cut off. I at firll imagined that ca-- 
price alone might have directed them to the ufe of the coconut for this 
purpofe: but I have fince rcfled:ed on the probability of the juice of 
the young fruit being neceflary to keep the pulp moifl:, which would, 
otherwife fpeedily become dry and unfit for the work* After that the 
leaves have been all placed in order, and ftuck on, bit by bit, a folder 
is prepared of gold filings and borax,, moiflcned with water, which they, 
ftrew over the plate, and then putting it in the fire for a fliort time,. 
3thc 
