Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/505

 ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 489 tion between the two metals. This, to be sure, will be effectually counteracted if the conjec- ture of Mr Holms should ever be verified, that the Cordilleras of the Andes, if properly investi- gated, will one day afford silver in such quantity and cheapness as to make it as abundant as iron or copper. Iron and copper are, besides tin and gold, the only metals found in the Indian Archipelago. Iron exists but in very small quantity, but, from its native name, without any foreign synonym, we may conjecture that its use was early known to the natives, and was not acquired from strangers. Iron ore, of sufficient fertility to be wrought, is found in several parts of the Malayan Peninsula, in some parts of the south coast of Borneo, in Banco, and in Billiton. The mines of the last, which is a rocky sterile island, are the most productive of the Archipelago. The mineralogical character, or geognostic situation, of the ores of iron which ex- ist in the Archipelago, I am unable to point out. The iron manufactured at Billiton is said to be of an excellent quality, and nails are manufactured from it on the spot, which are articles of export to some of the neighbouring countries, as Fon- tianak in Borneo. From what mysterious law of nature does it pro- ceed, that gold abounds and iron is scarce in all the regions of the equator, and that the reverse is