Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (IA journalofstrait121878roya).pdf/56

28 these samples being procured under difficulties as to working appliances and carriage, did not fairly represent the condition in which the mineral would by put into the market after mining operations had been regularly opened, and therefore the results obtained are all the more encouraging.

.—There is some reason for believing that the diamondiferous deposits of Sarawak are more valuable than has yet appeared to be the case. No systematic operations in the search for these precious stones have ever been carried on in the country. The only people who pursne diamond-washing as a means of livelihood are the poorer Malays, who are mostly gamblers, and carry on their work in a way very desultory and imperfect. Mr. Gray, who arrived in Sarawak last year with all necessary appliances for this kind of mining, and who had three years previous experience at the Cape fields, commenced operations in the Sentah river, but relinquished the attempt as unprofitable after an essay of ten days' or a fortnight's duration. I have been informed that in the opinion of the native diamond-washers, this gentleman never reached the true gem-bearing stratum; which may or may not have been the case. However this may be, a two weeks' exporationexploration [sic] cannot be considered very satisfactory. One frequently hears of stones of good size and water being disposed of in Singapore as coming from Sarawak, and some are to be seen in Kuching now. They not seldom exhibit a pure lemon-yellow tinge, which is different from the straw colour of the Cape, and more valued. The large {SIC|dimond|diamond}} (76  carats), brought over from M'rau in the Sikaiam district of Dutch Borneo a year or two ago, is proof that stones of very considerable size are to be found in the island.

The Sentah is a tributary of the Penrissen branch of the Sarawak river. It is from this branch that Aquamarines are brought to Kuching. They seem to be very rare, and the only one which has come under my own notice was a mass of flaws, and useless as a gem.

To sum up the preceding notes. Of the known minerals of Sarawak, Antimony and Cinnabar are the only ores that have been explored on a large scale; of these, the difficulty of obtaining the first in remunerative quantity is daily increasing, while the yield of the second, at no time extraordinary, is capricious in the extreme. Arsenic, Gold, and Diamond have either proved failures, or do not tempt European capital. Coal has been tried and found wanting; but later discoveries with respect to its extent and quality, justify a some what confident belief that the