( 14 ) 
Silver has always been imported from abroad in the 
form of coin, ingots or bars; gold, on the other hand, 
is found in plenty of localities in^the Peninsula, though 
Europeans have never yet been able to make a com- 
mercial success of gold-mining. Individual Malay and 
Chinese gold-washers have, however, won considerable 
quantities of the metal, and Malay and Chinese mines 
have been successful in a few instances. It is there- 
fore, probable that a good deal of the older gold-work, 
especially in the eastern states, may be made of native 
gold. 
Before the coming of the British, the Malay peasant 
was in most places not sufficiently well off to afford 
gold ornaments, and this fact together with the 
frequent remelting of old ornaments to make new, 
probably accounts for the comparative rarity of old 
gold jewellery. 
Much of the best native jewellery is filigree work, 
generally on a solid backing, the threads of the 
“ composition," as Malays call it, being ornamented 
here and there with little balls of gold or with tiny, 
discs of the same metal. These are called respectively 
“ fish eggs ” and “ pepper seeds.” Filigree work is 
chiefly used for the decoration of pendants, bracelets, 
ear-studs and rings as well as for. the adornment of 
the mountings of keris-sheaths and as small bosses on 
silver boxes. Both filigree and repousse gold work are 
frequently coloured either deep red or a very bright 
yellow, these results being obtained by means of treat- 
ment with chemicals. 
Brass and At the present day work in white-metal 
White-Metal is carried on in Trengganu, and- some 
Work. very fine articles are manufactured. In 
spite of occasional flaws, which occur 
