THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE 
545 
1846 .] 
turns E. N. E., and keeps that general direction, making several small flexures 
for about twelve miles, where the tributary on which the town of Sambas is situa¬ 
ted joins it on the right. 
About two miles below the junction of this stream,, a small *creek enters on the 
left, which we followed with a small boat, for a distance of perhaps two and a half 
miles, where a small path led through a marsh covered with high grass (andropo- 
gon) for the distance of a quarter of a mile to a Malay village, of perhaps thirty houses, 
elevated on piles four feet above the marsh. The inhabitants were not to be seen, 
probably absent fishing, as several nets were drying in the village. 
There was a large grove of cocoanut trees, loaded with fruit, some banana trees 
jack-fruit, bread-fruit, paw-paw, and a small quantity of pepper, which looked un¬ 
healthy, as the soil was too moist. The inhabitants of this village subsist princi¬ 
pally by fishing, as the soil is unfit for cultivation. 
A short distance above this small stream a range of hills is visible, having five 
elevated points, the nearest distant two miles from the river. The branch on which 
Sambas is situated has a tortuous course, and is at one place obstructed by rocks ; 
but vessels drawing twelve feet water can pass without difficulty. The village is 
situated thirty miles from the coast, and contains about ten thousand inhabitants, 
two-thirds of which are Malays, and the remainder Chinese. This town was burned 
in 1815 by the English, and taken possession of by the Dutch in 1817, who have it 
defended by a fort mounting a few guns, with about eighty soldiers, principally 
Javanese, who are preferred by the Dutch to the Malays, as they say they are more 
active and industrious. 
Foreign vessels pay a port charge of a rupee (forty cents) on each ton, and Dutch 
vessels half that amount. 
The Government have a monopoly on salt, and gun-powder and tobacco, but all 
other articles are free of duty. 
Gold is the chief article; the principal mine is situated at the base of a mountain, 
perhaps fifteen hundred feet elevation, and about twenty mil^s distant from the vil¬ 
lage. The mines are worked by Chinese, and produce, according to the Governor, 
fifteen peculs of gold annually. It is called stuff-gold, and occurs in thin lamina and 
grains; sometimes in masses of imperfect crystallization. It is washed from the 
soil at the base of the mountain. 
The Chinese cut a kind of timber on the head waters of this river, called by the 
Dutch eiser-wood, (iron-wood,) from its weight. It has the color of mahogany, 
is very hard and heavy, is not attacked by insects, and is said to endure when in¬ 
serted into the ground for more than half a century. The fort is constructed of this 
wood, and is now twenty-five years old, and is still perfectly sound. It is too heavy 
for ship building. A considerable quantity is exported to China. 
The cocoa-nut and betel trees are planted here to some extent, but the land is too 
marshy ever to become an agricultural district, without immense expense in drain¬ 
ing. A Malay prince has become wealthy, by raising coffee on some of the small 
round hills which rise above the low grounds. 
The cassia alata is found growing here, and also, on several others of the east¬ 
ern islands, and is conspicuous for its large spikes of yellow flowers, and the neat 
contour of its leaves. 
Nearly all the species of cassia are medicinal, and are used principally as purga¬ 
tives, but this species is celebrated in the east as a remedy in cutaneous affec¬ 
tions, as porrigo, &c. 
The principal shrubs growing along the river, and in the swamps, are two spe¬ 
cies of the mangrove, together with a species of magnolia, which attains a height 
of twenty feet. 
The tribe of plants called Dilleniscea is nearly allied to Ranunculaceae, but dif¬ 
fers in the persistent calyx and stamens, and also in habit. From Magnoliacea, 
they differ by their want of stipula, and quinary arrangement of the parts of fruc¬ 
tification . 
The species so common here is the Dillenia ovata, a shrub from ten to fifteen 
feet high, and is much used by the Malays for fencing, and takes root after being 
inserted into the ground. The calyx in one species is used for culinary pur¬ 
poses. 
A very large species of Sparganium is found bending over the margin of the 
river, growing sometimes to the height of fifteen feet, and the stem with a diameter 
