272 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
nearness to Batavia and Singapore, and from being 
situated upon one of the finest rivers in Borneo—the 
Kapuas. It is built about 15 miles from the sea, at 
the confluence of the Tambu, an affluent which rises in 
Mount Penrisan on the Sarawak border and is note¬ 
worthy as yielding diamonds. The buildings are of the 
usual Malay type, except where owned by Europeans, 
and the life is semi-aquatic, although in this respect it 
presents a much less characteristic and curious sight 
than Banjarmasin or Brunei. Each nation — Dutch, 
Malay, Chinese, Bugis, etc.—has its own quarter, and 
the population is variously estimated at from 18,000 to 
20,000. Coasting from Pontianak along the southern 
seaboard, the entrances of innumerable rivers are passed, 
all of which bring down much forest produce to the 
villages at their mouths, where it is collected by Bugis 
and other native traders. All these rivers have been 
explored almost to their sources by the Dutch, but no 
officials are stationed on their banks, except at Sampit 
Bay, and it is not till Banjarmasin is reached that 
civilisation reappears. 
Banjarmasin is the largest and most important city 
in the whole of Borneo. It contains between 40,000 
and 50,000 inhabitants, and lies at the entrance of a 
most populous district, which has been civilised for 
centuries, and is rich in mineral wealth, especially in 
gold, diamonds, and coal. It is built not on the Barito 
itself, but on an affluent, the Kiamkina or Martapura, 
and its houses occupy the banks for a distance of two 
miles, while the river itself is blocked, except in mid¬ 
stream, by a dense pack of bamboo rafts, floating houses, 
pile dwellings, and craft of all descriptions and sizes. 
Here, in 1700, the English had a factory and fort, the 
garrison of which were surprised and massacred by the 
