FOOTNOTES:
[54] Great Britain.
[55] It is said that when the Dutch first established themselves in Java, three hundred vessels of not less than two hundred tons each, were accustomed to sail to and from the port of Japára, in Java, if not belonging to that port.
[56] The greatest part, or rather nearly the whole of these exports and imports, consisted of colonial produce, of articles of subsistence, or native manufactures, mutually exchanged between the two islands of Madúra and Java. Not a tenth part of the imports came from beyond Java.
[57] "The bazars," observes Mr. Hogendorp, "now produce a large, and even an incredible amount, which however is melted away in the hands of the native regents and also some European authorities; but the Chinese, to whom they are mostly farmed out, derive the greatest profits from them, both by the money which they extort from the Javans, and by the monopolies in all kinds of produce, and particularly of rice, which by these means they are enabled to secure to themselves. The abuses on this point are horrible, and almost induce me to recommend that the markets should be made free and open."
[58] See account of Chéribon.
[59] Although but few of the natives of Java venture their property in foreign speculations, the natives of Java form the crews of all coasting vessels belonging to Chinese, Arabs, or Europeans, and it is of them almost exclusively that the class of common sailors, known in the east under the general denomination of Malays, is composed. Here it may not be improper to notice the manner in which European vessels have hitherto been supplied with such crews, and to point out the probable causes of that atrocious conduct with which the Malayan sailor is so generally reproached.
A reference to the maritime customs of the Maláyus will shew the manner in which the outfit of a native vessel in the Eastern Seas is effected[73]. Each individual on board has a share and interest in the concern, and among themselves the maritime population is distinguished for good faith and attachment. In the vessels either commanded or owned by Chinese or Arabs, the same principle is attended to; and although the common sailors in these generally receive wages, the petty officers, who are also generally Javans, have some trifling interest in the cargo, the common men are protected by them, and the policy of the commanders induces every possible attention to the usages, prejudices, and comforts of the crews. They are able to assimilate more nearly with them, and to enter more immediately into their feeling and their wants, than it is possible for Europeans to do, and as they do not possess the authority to obtain crews by force, it is only by a character for good treatment that they can insure an adequate supply of hands. These vessels navigate throughout the whole extent of the Archipelago, to Malacca and Acheen on one side, and to the Moluccas and New Guinea on the other. They are manned exclusively by Javans, usually called Malays, and no instances occur of the crews rising either upon the Arab or Chinese commander: they are, on the contrary, found to be faithful, hardworking, and extremely docile. How is it when Malays are employed in vessels belonging to Europeans? The Javans are originally not a seafaring people; they have an aversion for distant voyages, and require the strongest inducements to quit the land, even for a coasting expedition in the smooth seas of their own Archipelago, beyond which, if they ever engage themselves on board a colonial vessel, they make an express agreement, not to be carried: European vessels in want of hands for more distant voyages to Europe, India, and China, have been compelled therefore to resort to force or fraud, as the means of obtaining crews. The Dutch government were in the habit of employing people, known among the Javans by the term sélong, as kidnappers, who prowled about at night, pounced upon the unwary peasant who might be passing along, and hurried him on ship-board. When the direct influence of government was not used, the native regents or chiefs were employed to obtain people for the crews of vessels: this they did sometimes in the same manner, though more frequently condemning to sea as many as were required, by an indiscriminate draft on the neighbouring population. The native chiefs were perhaps paid a certain head-money, on what may have been considered by the European commanders as nothing more than crimpage. The people who were seized were seldom of a seafaring class, but almost entirely landsmen, in many instances perhaps opium smokers, or persons obtained from the lowest and most worthless part of the community. Once embarked, their fate was sealed for ever, and due care was taken that they never landed again on Java, as long as their services as sailors were required.
In this manner are obtained that extensive class of sailors, denominated Malays, who are found on board almost every country ship in India, and inhabit the sea-ports in considerable numbers, particularly Calcutta, where they have a distinct quarter allotted them. They are taken from their home against their will, and in violation of all their views and habits. In general, neither their language or customs are in the least understood by their new master, for though most of the commanders in the eastern trade may speak the Malayan language, and be accustomed to the Malayan character, they know nothing of the Javan language, and but little of the manners, habits, and prejudices of the Javan people.
That numerous instances have occurred, in which they have appeared the foremost in mutiny and in the massacre of their officers, will not be denied; but it is well known, that many instances of ships being cut off by the Malay crews, have been occasioned by the tyrannical and inhuman character of the commanders; and however dreadful the massacre, some excuse may be made on the score of provocation, for a people low in the scale of moral restraint and intellectual improvement. In some cases they have been made the instruments and dupes of the villany of others, and have merely followed in the track of cruelty. In general, so little care seems to be devoted to the comforts of these people, and so much violence offered to their habits, that a person accustomed to observe the course of human action, and to calculate the force of excited passions, is almost surprized to find the instances of mutiny and retaliation are so few.
[60] From a course of experiments recently undertaken, and a careful examination of the bird, by Sir Everard Home, Bart., there is every reason to believe that the nature of the substance of which the edible birds'-nests are composed will be satisfactorily explained.
[61] Mr. Hogendorp makes the following observations on the cotton of Java. "This article of produce, which now, in order to provide the Company with a few hundred píkuls of cotton-yarn at a low rate, is only productive of vexation and oppression to the poor natives, might be made of the greatest value, both to Java itself and to the mother country. The plant grows in abundance and of good quality, especially if the best kinds of seeds are procured from the Coromandel Coast and the Isle of France. The cultivation of cotton is not at all injurious to any other branch, for after the rice harvest is the best season for planting the cotton, and before the rains, when the fields are again ploughed for rice, the cotton is ripe and gathered.
"Little of it is comparatively planted at present; indeed only the necessary quantity, after providing the natives with coarse cloths, for the government contingent. In rough cotton there is no trade at all: but, in fact, what trade is there on Java, except the monopoly trade of the Chinese?
"Let us but suppose the cultivator to have a property in the soil, and that he, as well as the trader, were at liberty to buy and sell, how soon should we see the Javan planting cotton directly after his rice was reaped. After being cleaned by machinery and screwed into bales, it might be exported to China and Europe.
"There is no doubt that the Javan cotton would be as good at least, if not better, than the cotton of the English, whether from Bombay, Madras, and Bengal, and it might certainly be produced cheaper; but even suppose that, when cleaned and picked, it cost ten rix-dollars a píkul, the Javans would still be well paid."
[62] By an official statement of the quantity of sugar manufactured at Batavia and the various residencies of the island of Java, from the year 1779 to the year 1808, it appears that
| In the year | 1779 | it was | 30,131 | píkuls. |
| In the year | 1800 | 106,513 | ||
| In the year | 1801 | 107,498 | ||
| In the year | 1808 | 94,903 |
that during the first fourteen of these years, the quantity made and delivered over to the Company for export to Holland, Persia, &c. amounted to 642,234 píkuls, or to an average of 47,874 annually, two of these years being almost entirely unproductive, on account of the non-payment to the manufacturers of money, to enable them to carry on their business. During the latter half of the period, or from 1794 to 1808, the quantity manufactured and delivered over to the Company amounted to 917,598 píkuls, averaging 65,542 annually. All the sugar for export, during this period, as stated in the text, was delivered over at fixed rates to the government, and was placed under laws of the strictest monopoly. To shew the great practicability of an increase to almost any extent, we may adduce the sudden start in the supply occasioned by the American demand in 1800. In no preceding year had this article of produce been delivered over to the Company to a greater amount than 67,552 píkuls, and in that year the quantity sold at Batavia to Americans alone, amounted to 91,554, and for the subsequent years averaged 100,000 píkuls, and sold for 900,000 Java rupees, or 11,000l. sterling. The principal part of this was manufactured at Batavia, the quantity supplied by Jawâna, Japâra, Chéribon, Surabáya, and Semárang, being but proportionally small till 1803, when Japára contributed to the exports of the island in this article 12,219. In 1804, the same province supplied 21,175 píkuls. The disadvantage under which the manufacturer laboured, by forced deliveries at inadequate rates, need not be here insisted on, though it must be taken into the account in any estimate of the attainable increase of the manufacture.
[63] Mr. Hogendorp makes the following observations on the coffee and pepper of Java:—"In comparing the produce of the West Indian islands, according to their proportionate extent, population, and expenses of cultivation, I have frequently left off in the middle of my calculations; but I am sure that Java, on a very moderate calculation, can without difficulty yield fifty millions of pounds of coffee annually.
"For a long period, the planting of coffee was confined to the Batavian high and Priáng'en lands, and to Chéribon, on the principles of that short-sighted and self-destroying policy and spirit of monopoly, by which the company and the government of Batavia have ever been characterized. It is only of late years that it has been permitted to extend and revive the cultivation in the eastern districts. But the Commissioners, in May 1796, ordered that the cultivation should be abolished; and in the month of September in the same year, this order was countermanded, and the planting of coffee ordered to be promoted in the most rigorous manner possible. But what is to be expected from a country, where the natives are so treated, so oppressed? To-day the Javan is ordered to plant his garden with coffee trees: he does so, and although well aware how little he will get for the fruit, he sees them grow up with pleasure, considering their produce as a tribute which he must pay to his master for enjoyment of protection; but now, when they are about to bear fruit, he is ordered to root them out: he does so, and four months afterwards he is again ordered to plant others! Can a more infamous tyranny be imagined? Can it be credited, that any government should act so madly, so inconsistently? And yet this is the plain and real truth. But how can stupid ignorance, which by the vilest means, by base meanness, mercenary marriages, and every kind of low trick, rises into power and importance, and then becomes by wealth luxurious, and by flattery intoxicated, act otherwise? And will you, Batavians, continue to trust in such hands as these, your valuable possessions and interests in India?
"Pepper grows but slowly on any soil, and is so nice with regard to it, that in some places, where to all appearance there would be an abundant produce of the plant, it will not grow at all. The vine requires four or five years to produce fruit. The improvident Javan, who under the present despotic administration, can and will scarcely provide for his daily subsistence, finds this too long a delay between his labour and its reward: having, therefore, no sufficient motive to pursue the cultivation cheerfully or actively, he can only be driven to it by force; but let him once experience the advantage of property in land; let him see the trader ready with plenty of money to purchase the fruits of his labour; let him, if he should still be idle, observe his more industrious neighbour acquire wealth, by the sale of those articles which he slothfully declines to cultivate, and with it procure the necessaries or conveniences of life, and he will soon be induced, by emulation and the desire of ameliorating his condition, to plough and plant his ground. The Island of Java will then produce a considerable quantity of pepper, for which, if the cultivator obtains twelve rix-dollars per píkul, he will be amply paid.
"Although every thing goes on with difficulty at first, and it cannot be denied that it will require time and trouble to stimulate the Javans, who are now confounded, as it were, with tyranny and oppression, to industry and emulation, it is notwithstanding equally certain, that an improved system of administration, founded on property of the soil, freedom of person and trade, would by degrees, though perhaps much quicker than may be imagined, bring about such a change, and that Java might and would produce as much pepper for exportation annually as coffee, or about two hundred thousand píkuls, which will bring three thousand six hundred rix-dollars into the country."
In the year 1801, it was estimated by one of the first commercial houses in Europe, that the following quantities of pepper might be obtained from different ports of the Archipelago.
"Ports and Places where Pepper is to be had:—estimated in March 1801.
"At Bencoolen, belonging to the English, may be had about twelve hundred tons of pepper per annum.
"At Prince of Wales Island, belonging to the English, may be had at present only one hundred tons per annum: in a few years it will be five hundred tons.
"At Susú, on the west coast of Sumatra, belonging to the King of Acheen, may be had one thousand tons per annum.
"At Acheen and its ports, belonging to the King of Acheen, may be had about one thousand tons per annum: the Danes often go to these two ports.
"At Tringano and Kalanton, belonging to a Malayan prince, may be had about two thousand tons per annum: the Europe Portuguese ships often call at these ports on their way to China.
"At Palembang: the Dutch have a small fort here, and oblige the king to send all his pepper to Batavia; it may be about seven hundred tons per annum.
"At Lampung, on the south point of Sumatra: the Dutch have a small fort here, and they send all their pepper to Batavia; it may be about five hundred tons.
"At Bantam may be had five hundred tons: this belongs to the Dutch.
"At Bánjer-másin, on the south-west of Borneo: the Dutch have a fort here, and the rajah sends all his pepper to Batavia: it may be about twelve to fifteen hundred tons per annum.
"At Chintabun, near Siam, belonging to the King of Siam, may be had one thousand tons per annum: this goes to China in the king's junks."
[64] "Ceylon, it may be observed, will consume two thousand kóyans annually (four thousand tons). There is also a ready market at the Cape of Good Hope, for one thousand kóyans a year. A scarcity of this grain frequently happens on the coast of Coromandel, when the import of it from Java will yield great profit, if the traders are permitted to export it. The general freedom of commerce and navigation, and the encouragement such freedom holds out to the merchant, will establish and extend a ready communication and friendly relation between Batavia and the trading places of India. In the article of rice, Java possesses advantages superior to Bengal; for although this grain is generally very cheap there, yet the navigation from and to Bengal is always more difficult than that from and to Java, from whence, at all seasons of the year, the passage may be made to most parts of India: and in Bengal it often happens, that the rice is very scarce and dear, and even that a famine rages there. On the island of Java, on the contrary, although the crops may sometimes partially fail in a few places, a general and total failure never happens: at least there is no instance of it on record. It may also be considered, whether the exportation of rice from Java to Europe might not become an object of speculation. The cargo of a ship of five hundred lasts, or kóyans, would only cost fifteen thousand rix-dollars, which cannot be reckoned at more than thirty thousand guilders; and the kóyan being calculated at three thousand five hundred pounds, the only question would be, what would be the value of one million seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds of rice in Europe, and if the undertaking would afford a reasonable gain? Even China is sometimes much in want of rice, and the export of it to that country would often, if not always, turn out very advantageous."—Hogendorp.
Rice was exported both to England and China, during the provisional administration of the British government on Java.
[65] The rupees are throughout calculated at thirty stivers each.
[66] If current report is to be credited, the fate of this unfortunate prince has been at last sealed; and the undisputed successor of "that great and puissant king," to whom Queen Elizabeth gave an assurance, "that far from ever having cause to repent an intercourse with the English, he should have a most real and just cause to rejoice at it;" and to whom, on the part of the English nation, she gave a pledge, "that her promises were faithful, because the conduct of her subjects would be prudent and sincere"—has been obliged to abdicate his throne in favour of the son of a Pinang merchant!
[67] "We, the Batavians," says Mr. Hogendorp, "or rather our good and heroic ancestors, conquered these countries by force of arms. The Javans, who are immediately under our jurisdiction, acknowledge the Batavian nation or the East India Company as their lord or sovereign; but by so doing, although they resigned their political rights, they still retained their civil and personal liberty, at least their right thereto. But what relation do the Chinese bear to us, and what are the rights they can require from us? As foreigners and itinerant traders, this may be easily defined, but as inhabitants and settlers a further inquiry becomes necessary. To political rights, or to a share in the government and revenues of the country, they have not the slightest claim, and as inhabitants, they cannot even claim the enjoyment of the same civil or personal privileges as the Javans: in the first place, because they are not natives of the country; secondly, because they take no interest in the welfare or preservation of the country; thirdly, because they only endeavour to derive their gain at the expense of the Europeans as well as the Javans, in order to return to China with the profits they make, or at least to send as much of it as possible to their families there; fourthly, because they have no regard whatever to the welfare of our country, and would be quite indifferent to the English, or any other nation, driving us from Java. For these reasons, I conceive that the Chinese have not the same right as the Javans to the freedom or privilege of citizens. The basis of all civil communities is incontrovertibly the sacrifice of a part of the liberty, rights, and even property of each individual, for the enjoyment and security of the remainder; and this remainder, when fixed, forms the civil freedom and privileges of such a community. Not only are the Chinese quite exempt from this sacrifice, but they are also, by the corruption of the Batavian government, much less burdened than all the other inhabitants, even the Europeans, and are besides favoured with considerable privileges and exclusive means of gaining wealth. These are facts, which no one who is acquainted with Batavia can or will contradict.
"Were impartial justice to be adhered to, the Chinese would be looked upon and treated only as foreigners, who are suffered and admitted, as long as it is not injurious to our interest and safety, to settle in our country and under our protection, seeking in trade or agriculture their means of subsistence and emolument, and to whom, on account of their numbers, it is allowed by our indulgence, as long as they conduct themselves well and peaceably, to preserve and practise their own manners and customs, and even in particular places, to dwell together under their own chiefs.
"All the Chinese who come to Java every year in such vast numbers, in the junks from China, or in other vessels from neighbouring places, are the refuse of their nation, and principally from a province, the natives of which are considered by their own countrymen the worst of the whole empire. These people come half naked and poor in the extreme: they add, therefore, so many more to the population, which must be supported by the country, to which however they contribute nothing. It must be acknowledged, they are, particularly at first, very active, industrious, inventive, and frugal. At Batavia they exercise almost every useful art, trade, and handicraft, they cultivate and produce the best vegetables, they work the sugar-mills, and appear therefore to be uncommonly useful and perhaps indispensable.
"The trade in the interior, wholesale and retail: the trade to sea, to the opposite shores, and elsewhere in the Straits, is entirely in their hands, and is almost wholly carried on by them. In all considerable places on the coast, as well as in the interior of Java, they have distinct towns, called kampongs, where they live under their own chiefs, and follow their own customs and manners. Finally, they have exclusively all the farms of the government taxes and revenues, both in the Company's districts and in the dominions of the native princes: by which means they are complete masters of all trade, internal and foreign; and are enabled to make monopolies in every thing, which they do accordingly in the most extensive manner. The burthens they have to bear are, on the contrary, very trifling; in fact, almost nothing: especially because they are exempt from all feudal and personal services, which are so oppressive to the Javans.
"To what can this impropriety and injustice be ascribed but to the government of Batavia? The Chinese have obtained all these favours and privileges by making considerable presents, and thus sacrificing the interests of the Company and the nation to their selfishness and avarice. These arbitrary governors of the East Indies have made the Chinese possessors of Java: for I undertake to prove, that the wealth of the Chinese on that island amounts to ten times as much as the property of all the Europeans added together, and that their profits every year bear the same proportion.
"With reference to their numbers and character, I am of opinion that the following resolutions regarding them might be adopted: That the Chinese on Java should be allowed to remain, and even that further arrivals of them should be permitted; care being taken, however, to keep them in good order, that they should be prevented from injuring the Javans, either by force or fraud: that they be not more favoured than others: that they should contribute a proportionate and equitable share towards the revenues of the state for their enjoyment of the rights of citizenship, in the same manner as other inhabitants, which can best be effected by means of a capitation tax. Uncultivated and uninhabited lands might then be granted or sold to the Chinese, as well as to the natives, to establish sugar-mills or plantations. By these means, every practicable use and advantage would be derived from them, as an industrious and active people, without doing any injury to the other inhabitants, and especially the Javans as natives of the country: and because they have no interest in our national welfare, they should be made, as an equitable compensation, to pay a higher rate to the state. In other respects, they may be completely subjected to our laws, and may be treated with kindness as well as justice.
"The number of Chinese on Java is much greater than is generally imagined, and annually more of them arrive by thousands. By connexions with the native women, their families increase in inconceivable numbers. These half-Chinese retain the language, religion, manners, customs, and even the dress of their fathers; and are generally called Pernakans, although that name is also frequently applied exclusively to those Chinese who embrace the Mahometan religion; and these, as a separate class of people, have their own chiefs, or sometimes confound themselves with the Javans, and can only be distinguished by their lighter complexion."
[68] Among the exports from Java for the Europe market, no particular notice has been taken in the text of the extent of the spice trade, the produce of the Moluccas having, during the provisional administration of the British government, been conveyed direct from Amboina to the port of London, without being landed and re-assorted at Batavia, as was formerly the case under the Dutch government.
The sovereign Prince of the Netherlands has, by a solemn act, abandoned his right to the feudal services of his native subjects in the Eastern Archipelago, but has at the same time reserved to the state the exclusive monopoly of the spices. It may perhaps have been deemed expedient, in aid of the finances of Great Britain, that this odious monopoly should have been permitted to remain for upwards of five years under her uncontrolled dominion; and that, while the cloves on Amboina were raised by forced services, the nutmeg gardens on Banda should have been cultivated by slaves. There may have been reasons also which induced her to continue the system of extirpation in the neighbouring islands, and to act up to those stipulations for depressing these unhappy countries, for which the Dutch have in all ages been so justly reprobated. But now that the sovereign, to whom they are again ceded, has recommenced the Dutch administration in the Eastern seas, with an appearance of something more like justice, humanity, and sound policy than we have been in the habit of witnessing for the last two centuries, it is to be hoped that the profits of two annual cargoes of spices, whatever they may amount to, will never be considered of sufficient importance to tempt a great and magnanimous nation longer to trample on the hallowed rights of humanity, and to persevere in a system, which, while it may have afforded a temporary profit, has tended to degrade, depopulate, and destroy the fairest countries in creation. If the nutmeg and clove trees were allowed to grow where Providence would seem to have ordained that in their natural course they should, and this trade were opened to a free commerce, nutmegs might perhaps be procured as cheap as betel-nut, and cloves as cheap as pepper.
"In the Spice Islands," observes Adam Smith, "the Dutch are said to burn all the spiceries which a fertile season produces beyond what they expect to dispose of in Europe, with such a profit as they think sufficient. In the islands where they have no settlements they give a premium to those who collect the blossoms and green leaves of the clove and nutmeg trees which naturally grow there, but which this savage policy has now, it is said, completely exterminated. Even in the islands where they have settlements, they have very much reduced, it is said, the number of those trees. If the produce even of their own islands was much greater than what suited their market, the natives, they suspect, might find means to convey some part of it to other nations; and the best way, they imagine, to secure their own monopoly, is to take care that no more shall grow than what they themselves carry to market. By different acts of oppression, they have reduced the population of the Moluccas nearly to the number which is sufficient to supply with fresh provisions and other necessaries of life, their own insignificant garrisons, and such of their ships as occasionally come there for a cargo of spices. Under the government of the Portuguese, however, these islands are said to have been tolerably well peopled."
Had Dr. Smith written at the present day he might have heightened the picture by observing, that so far from even being able to supply the garrisons, these islands have long been considered incapable of raising sufficient supplies for their own subsistence; they have for many years depended almost entirely on Java for rice and the common necessaries of life, and latterly supplies have been sent to them from Bengal.
[69] This general remark is not intended to apply to the traders of Pinang (Prince of Wales' Island), who are in general well-informed and most honourable in their dealings, possessing great experience in the trade, and acquaintance with the habits and character of the natives: but this establishment is comparatively of recent date, and the very general view here taken has reference to the intercourse which has subsisted during the last century.
[70] See an able report on the Eastern Islands, by R. T. Farquhar, Esq. late Lieutenant-Governor of Prince of Wales' Island.
[71] Gold.—From a calculation recently made, it appears that the number of Chinese employed in the gold mines at Mentrada and other places on the western side of Borneo, amounts to not less than thirty-two thousand working men. When a mine affords no more than four bengkals (weighing about two dollars each, or something less than a tahil) per man in the year, it is reckoned a losing concern, and abandoned accordingly. Valuing the bengkal at eighteen Spanish dollars, which is a low rate of estimation, and supposing only four bengkals produced in the year by the labour of each man, the total produce is 128,000 bengkals, worth 2,224,000 Spanish dollars, equal to 556,000l., at the rate of five shillings the dollar. But it is asserted, that upon the general run of the mines, seldom less than six bengkals per head has been obtained, and in very rainy seasons seven. Taking the medium at six and a half bengkals, the 32,000 Chinese will procure 208,000 bengkals, which at eighteen Spanish dollars the bengkal is 3,744,000 Spanish dollars, equal to 936,000l. Such is the result of a very moderate calculation of the produce of these mines. According to an estimate made in the year 1812, the annual produce of the mines on the west coast of Borneo was estimated at 4,744,000 Spanish dollars, being an excess of a million sterling. The quantity of gold procured on Sumatra, the supposed golden Chersonesus of the ancients, is according to Mr. Marsden about 30,800 ounces, which, at 4l. sterling the ounce, is worth 123,200l., equal to 492,800 Spanish dollars.
With respect to the disposal of the gold from the mines of Borneo, it may be observed, that every native Chinese, whether employed in the mines, in agriculture, as merchant or artificer, manages every year to remit at least the value of one tahil, more or less, of gold to his relations in China. These remittances are generally made by the junks in gold, as it saves freight, is more easily smuggled on shore without the notice of the rapacious Mandarin, and remitted over-land to the residence of their families. Taking the Chinese male population who can thus remit at double the number employed in the mines, and supposing one half to be born in the country, most of whom may not remit to China, this remittance would amount to 34,000 bengkals or tahils, which at eighteen Spanish dollars is 612,000 dollars, or 153,000l.
It is calculated that, one year with another, at least five hundred Chinese return in the junks to their native country with a competency. Several have been known to take away one thousand bengkals of gold, many from three to five hundred, but very few return before they have cleared a competency of two thousand dollars, or from one hundred to one hundred and twenty tahil of gold. This goes partly in gold; though they prefer investing a part of it in tin from Banka, opium, and other articles. Say, however, that they remit one half in gold, five hundred men, at one thousand dollars each, will give five hundred thousand dollars, which added to the small family remittances, accounts for an amount exceeding one million of dollars, or 250,000l. This calculation, however, seems to be far within the mark, and gives less by one half than what is usually stated to be remitted to China from the Bornean mines, which has been estimated at a loose guess at two millions of dollars, or 500,000l.
A further amount of not less than the value of a million of dollars (250,000l.) is supposed to find its way annually to Western India, and principally to Bengal, viâ Batavia, Malacca, and Pinang, for the purchase of opium and piece goods. The surplus enriches Java and some of the other islands, in exchange for salt, tobacco, coarse cloths, &c.
As the mines are worked with so little expence of machinery, the funds necessary for commencing an undertaking of the kind are small; and as the property of the soil belongs to the first occupant, almost every Chinese would become a proprietor, but from the mode by which their services are, in the first instance, secured by the council of proprietors or kongsis. A parcel of half-starved Chinese, enchanted with the prospect of wealth on the golden shores of Borneo, readily find a passage in the annual junks that sail from the mother-country to Borneo, at ten dollars a head. On their arrival, being unable to pay the passage money, and the tax of a dollar per head, established by the native authority, while their immediate wants of food, clothing, and habitation, are urgent and imperious, the proprietors of the mines find it easy to engage their services for three or four years. In some other cases, agents are employed to obtain men from China, on stipulated agreements, to work for a number of years; the usual rate of payment to the miners so engaged is not considered to average less than five Spanish dollars a month. No sooner, however, are these engagements concluded with their masters, than a number of them club together with the funds they have been able to save, and commence a new mine upon their joint account, in a few years acquiring a competency to return to their native country.
Diamonds.—There appears to be no just foundation for the idea, that the diamonds of Borneo are inferior to those of Golconda. Many of an inferior quality have no doubt found their way into the market, because there was perhaps less skill and judgment in the selection; but the value of diamonds here, as well as every where else, depends upon their shape, size, and water, and in this respect the diamonds of Borneo will bear a comparison with those of any country yet known. Indeed, as far as we may judge from the present state of our information, the Lándak mines alone are as productive, and its diamonds as precious, as any other in the world.
The principal mines where diamonds are regularly dug for on Borneo, and found in any considerable quantities, are those of Lándak, Sángau, on the great river Lawi, and the districts of Bánjer-másin. Diamonds have been occasionally found within the limits of Borneo Proper, at Mátan and Sukadána. The mines of Lándak are as ancient as the Malayan dominion on the islands, those of Sángau are of more recent date, and those of Bánjer-másin are said to have been first discovered in the reign of Sultan Sepoh, from whom the present sultan is the fourth in descent.
Diamonds are not only found in the bottom of rivers when dry, but at the foot of craggy hills and mountains. The párits, or mines, are dug to the depth of from one to five fathoms only; but experience has invariably proved, that the deeper they are dug, not only are the diamonds more abundant, but superior in size, shape, and water. The soil which produces diamonds is known from a species of earth called by the natives lábor or lábor-gig'gi. This is sometimes black, sometimes white, red, orange, and green: it is a species of earth which stains the clothes of the labourer, and is distinguished by many names.
At Lándak there are ten párits worked by Chinese, and in each from twenty to thirty labourers employed. As a general average, eight Chinese are supposed to find about eight bengkals of diamonds in a year. From two to three hundred of the smallest sort are supposed to go to a bengkal, valued at from twenty to twenty-four rupees. This is independent of the larger ones, which are casual. So far back as the year 1738, the Dutch annually exported from the produce of these mines, diamonds to the value of from two to three hundred thousand dollars.
Few courts of Europe could perhaps boast of a more brilliant display of diamonds than, in the prosperous times of the Dutch, was exhibited by the ladies of Batavia, the principal and only mart yet opened for the Bornean diamond mines, and whence those known in the European world have been procured. With the decline of the Dutch government, however, the demand has decreased, and the mines are now almost neglected, the numerous diamond-cutters not being able to obtain a livelihood. Formerly, when more Chinese were employed in the mines of Lándak, diamonds from ten to thirteen carats were common in the public markets. The Pangéran of Lándak now wears one of eighteen, and another of fourteen carats and a half. Since Java has been in the possession of the English, rough diamonds from Borneo have been sent to England, and, even in a very unfavourable state of the market, turned out an advantageous remittance.
Among the larger diamonds which these mines have produced, it may not be uninteresting to mention, that the great diamond now in the possession of the Sultan of Mátan, which has been seen and examined by Europeans, weighs three hundred and sixty-seven carats: it is of the shape of an egg indented on one side. It is, however, uncut; and, on this account, it may be difficult to say, whether it will become the largest cut diamond ever known; for the famous diamond of Aurung Zebe, called the Mogul, in its rough state weighed seven hundred and ninety-five carats, and was then valued at 600,000l., but when cut was reduced to two hundred and seventy-nine carats. This celebrated diamond, known by the name of the Mátan diamond, was discovered by a dáyak, and claimed as a droit of royalty by the Sultan of the country, Gúru-Láya; but was handed over to the Pangéran of Lándak, whose brother having got possession of it, gave it as a bribe to the Sultan of Súkadána, in order that he might be placed on the throne of Lándak: the lawful prince, however, having fled to Bantam, by the aid of the prince of that country and the Dutch, succeeded in regaining possession of his district, and nearly destroyed Súkadána. It has remained as an heir-loom in the family of these princes for four descents, and is almost the only appendage of royalty now remaining.
[72] See Appendix B.
[73] See a paper on the Maritime Institutions of the Malayan Nation, in the twelfth volume of the Asiatic Researches.