Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/474

 4-58 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF tools and other materials required in the processes of milling, washing, and smelting. Among these are blacksmiths, carpenters, charcoal burners, garden- ers, &c. In the present state of population, the corn consumed by the workmen is more cheaply import- ed than grown. The simplicity of the various pro- cesses of mining industry is such, that little pre- vious training is necessary. The only exception to this is the business of the smelter, which is always a separate trade. The miners are almost all na- tives of China, and, notwithstanding the difference of climate, and the severity of their occupations, enjoy good health. besides the tin obtained by the Chinese, by the intelligent processes now described, an inconsider- able quantity is obtained by the natives, by very rude processes. The masters of the island, the Malays, or, at least, the people of Palembang, imi- tate the Chinese at an humble distance, and extract the ore by means similar to those practised by the latter in the small mines. The aboriginal natives follow still ruder processes. They mine in the form of a narrow cylindrical shaft, capable of ad- mitting one person only, and, if the bed of ore be found productive, follow it at the risk of their lives under the alluvial strata, which often fall in upon them. They have no water-wheel, no aqueduct. To avoid the accumulation of water, they must always mine on the acclivities of cle-