818 
SKETCH OF THE TROCESS OF MINING 
Besides the tin manufactured according to the regular process 
above described, a small quantity is annually prepared by the moun¬ 
tain-people or original inhabitants. They make a simple cylindrical 
perforation into the ground, barely sufficient to admit one person, till 
they arrive at the stratum of the ore, which they take out with the 
gangue and wash at the nearest stream, without taking the trouble 
of constructing aqueducts. If they find the stratum productive, they 
follow it under the soil by horizontal perforations to a considerable 
distance, and often expose themselves to great danger. Two or three 
persons generally work in fellowship. In some part of the Island 
they have adopted the process of small mining followed by the Chi¬ 
nese. The mountain-people of the districts of Sungie-bulu and of 
Tirak are more in the habit of preparing metal than those of the 
other districts. Their furnaces are small and their ventilators con¬ 
sist of two small cylinders placed near each other in a vertical posi¬ 
tion: the pistons being alternately raised and depressed cause a con¬ 
stant blast in the fire-place. As they are obliged to carry their tent 
a considerable distance on their shoulders, they make the Ingots 
smaller than the Chinese, their weight is on an average 33£ catties. 
These people often employ themselves at the extremities of the stra¬ 
ta which have been deserted by the Chinese. 
The Malays follow the regular process of the Chinese in work- 
ng small mines, hut rarely undertake large or kolong mines: in 
late periods they have rarely been engaged in mining. 
The facility with which the ore is collected and the simplicity of 
the method of mining on Banka requires, comparatively with other 
countries, (as has already been mentioned,) little assistance from ma¬ 
chinery, and the implements generally employed are neither nume¬ 
rous nor complex. Few artificers are therefore necessary. 
Every settlement, however, should he provided according to the 
extent of the works carried on, with one or more Carpenters and 
Blacksmiths. And a supply of iron and steel to the miners on mo¬ 
derate terms, must always be considered as of the greatest import¬ 
ance to the interest of those who derive the produce of the mines. 
The Iron implements in common use are crow-bars, shovels, pick 
axes and hoes, besides those employed in smelting, as ladles, pokers, 
&c, these are all made by the Blacksmiths attached to the settle¬ 
ments. Of the wooden machinary employed on Banka, the con¬ 
struction of the Bellows requires most art and ingenuity, and there 
are at the present period few workmen on the Island capable of 
