Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/473

 ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 4^7 and is received into a basin, from which, in time, it is removed, by a ladle, into moulds made of moist sand, formed near the furnace. The size of these moulds gives slabs or ingots of metal weigh- ing 50 katis, or 6i')'t lbs. This operation serves the double purpose of smelting and roasting the ore. It is always conducted in the night time, to avoid the heats of the day, which would be inconve- nient in that climate to the labourers. In the course of one night 5280 lbs. of ore are smelted, which, at an average, afford 44i or 45 ingots of me- tal, or 3062 lbs., so that, at this rate, 100 parts of ore yield 58 parts of metal. A more improved, but perhaps more expensive, mode of smelting would, it is thought, give a greater produce. The outlay of capital, according to this mode of extracting tin, is extremely trifling. Besides the water-wheel, ventilator, and shed, including the furnaces, it consists of the charges for pick- axes, spades, hoes, shovels, and a few cheap wheel- barrows, after a Chinese construction. The very "vvoods, cut down on the site of the mines, afford the necessary charcoal for smelting. The whole of the processes described are conducted by the Chi- nese. The miners are scattered over the island according to the direction of the mines. Besides the immediate labourers in the mines, many others are connected with them, being engaged either in raising food and necessaries, or in fabricating the