AN I> THE ECONOMY OF THE MINES. 821 
mentioned : these were in general charged at a high rate and af¬ 
forded a considerable profit to the Tikus. 
A n idea appears to have prevailed that the debts incurred by 
these advances were necessary to keep the miners in a degree of 
dependence, to command their labours at all times, and to prevent 
desertion or removal from one district to another. This system 
has indeed been carried to n greater extent in those districts where 
the miners labour in conjunction in large mines (as in Jehus, Kiab- 
bet &c.) and where the aggregate number are responsible for the 
debts contracted, while in those districts where the miners work in 
small parties, and on small mines, the produce is easier realized and 
the habit of contracting large debts, comparatively, less extensive. 
The usual monthly advances to the miners consisted in 13 gan- 
tangs of rice for a single, and 20 gantangs for a married man : (each 
gantang weighing 4.^ catties Chinese, or 6 pounds Troy.) further 
1 catty of oil and 1 or more gantangs of salt. Each miner also re¬ 
ceived monthly a small advance in money, which was usually paid 
in the tin coin formerly in circulation. 
Besides these advances, which were uniform through the whole 
island, the miners contracted private debts with the Kongsy, for which 
they were individually responsible. 
One period of the year, the termination of the smelting season, 
was appointed for regulating the accounts and for liquidating the 
debts; this was done in the following manner. The quantity of the 
metal having been accurately determined by weight, a calculation 
of the amount of its value was made according to the established 
price. This was done for each mine separately: the miners being 
considered as united into one body, all those belonging to the same 
mine shared equally in the produce of the labour. 
From this general amount was then deducted : 
First, The monthly advances in money and in the necessaries 
above mentioned: 
Secondly , The pay of the smelter and his assistants ; 
Thirdly, The price of the coals used in refining ; 
Fourthly, The hire of the furnace and implements ; 
Fifthly, The amount of the transportation of the metal from the 
furnace to the stockade, and in some cases, to the landing place at 
the river. 
A balance was then struck, and the remaining sum divided in equal 
portions among the labourers at a mine. But those who had debts 
s 3 
