310 REPORT ON THE ISLAND OP BANKA. 
of Sultan Anom. They were conducted both by the regular inha¬ 
bitants of Minto and by numerous Chinese adventurers who resort¬ 
ed to Banka; the latter occupied chiefly the banks of the river 
Teluk Rombiya which were very rich in ore. Severe contentions 
frequently arose concerning the tracts containing the ores or the 
employment of the water necessary in the operations; bnfc the inha¬ 
bitants of Minto were always peculiarly Indulged by the sovereign, 
and if their reports may be credited they received a price for the 
tin they manufactured exceeding by one fourth the value paid to the 
Chinese. 
The next Settlement, after Minto, was formed at Belo about 8 
miles to the eastward on the same tract of coast, by a Chinese whose 
name is celebrated on the island and whose descendants have to the 
latest periods maintained the administration of the chief mining dis¬ 
tricts. Assing, from Ins importance and influence denominated 
Captain of the Chinese, gave to the operations as much facility and 
regularity as they are capable of wdth the description of persons em¬ 
ployed ; he introduced from China and Borneo persons acquainted 
with the processes of collecting the ore and refining the metal as 
they are conducted in those countries; he likewise constructed the 
various implements and machinery according to the models there 
employed, and he particularly taught the judicious use of water in 
the different operations connected with mining, with the application 
of canals or aqueducts. A determinate form and weight was fixed 
\ 
for the ingots which they have preserved to the present time. 
About this period the administration of the mines, which had pre¬ 
viously been farmed to individuals was assumed by the Sultan, and 
the Island was divided into different portions. The favorite courtier 
above mentioned, by whose advice and assistance he ascended the 
throne, was the first person who was charged with the superinten¬ 
dence of this administration, and his descendants have preserved a 
share in it to the latest period. All the records which might tend 
to point out the succession in which the settlements were formed in 
the different districts have been lost and destroyed on B&nka, or re¬ 
main at Plemb&ng in obscurity with the families of the former ad- 
