MINBRALOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF BANKA. 781 
siderable, and the road follows an excavation formed by the descend¬ 
ing current, the sides of which consist of granite rocks. 
The highest point to which any path can be traced is the connec¬ 
tion of the large hill with its appendage : through this the inhabi¬ 
tants of Minto occasionally descend to the settlement at Kadur on 
the north side of the hill. Those natives who visit the Manumbing 
for collecting rattans and various economical and medicinal plants 
which it produces, are obliged to enter the wilds at random. 
I ascended a small distance in a western direction towards the 
summit: this part of the mountain is composed entirely of granite, 
the rocks are mostly large and precipitous, but in the intermediate 
spaces deep vegetable mould has accumulated and the greatest part 
is covered with profuse vegetation. The only peculiarity which I 
noticed in these rocks is an abundance of schorl collected in groups 
and often shewing itself on the surface. It appeared in slender, 
very long, needle-shaped crystals : detached fragments are some¬ 
times found; several of these had been carried to Minto by the na¬ 
tives, where they were, on account of their colour and resemblance, 
produced to me as petrified coal. 
Many absurd notions are entertained by the natives as to this 
mountain : the stories of persons who have accidentally been bewil¬ 
dered near the summit have caused a general dread to approach it. 
I remarked that the persons who accompanied me were unwilling 
to proceed beyond a small distance from the usual path. 
Between the elevated parts of the Manumbing and its appendages 
which are exclusively primitive, and the lower ridges which hound 
the sea, a tract intervenes which is stratified and has the same con¬ 
stitution as the mining districts in other parts of the island. This 
tract surrounds the whole mountain as a belt of unequal breadth : 
commencing in the east, at the extremity of the hill Ivukus, it con¬ 
tains the mines of Belo, which at their first opening and for many 
successive years furnished a very large supply of metal, these are 
at present exhausted and the miners have removed to the strata on 
the north side of the mountain: proceeding westward, follow the 
mines of Rangam and next those of Sungie Teluk Robiya, Sungie 
B&bi and Sungie Deyng near the settlement at Minto. I he tract 
now winds round the western extremity of the hill Bulang-pitsha 
and, inclosing the environs of Mendshelang, Reang Beat and And- 
shel, takes an eastern direction and follows the confines of the moun¬ 
tain in the north to its termination. This part contains the mines 
n 3 
