Butong-Lupai, which measures nearly five miles across, and can float a large frigate. The Sarawak, famous in the annals of English enterprise, is not so remarkable for its length or breadth as for its numerous branches, which ramify in such a manner as to afford to an extensive district all the advantages of water communication. South of the equator we find the Mejak, the Sambas and the Kapooas. The first named was ascended by a Dutch steamer, as far as Malu, in March, 1855. The last named is one of the chief rivers on the island -perhaps the chief-measuring not less than seven hundred miles in its sinuous course. On the south coast we notice the Djelli, the Pembuan, the Medawi, the Great Dayak, the Little Dayak, the Kahajau, the Murong, and the Bangermassin, or Burdo. This last is connected by several arms with the Murong on the west, and thence again with the Kahajau; so that a water-way penetrates into the very heart of the interior. In the lower part of its course it is continually overflowing the country, as its name indicates Bangermassin ("frequent floods"). In the upper part it is called the Dooson, or village river, because its banks are occupied by several agricultural communities. It is fed on the east by the Nagara, a river which in itself is of considerable importance. On the east coast the rivers are not so large nor so numerous, but we notice the Kooti, with its wide delta, extending over one hundred miles of coast. It was ascended by Major Muller, a Dutch officer, in 1825, and he had succeeded in crossing the mountains and descending into the valley of the Kapooas, when he was murdered by the Dyaks. Further to the north lies the Pautai, or river of Beron. (Adams's Eastern Archipelago.) VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL KINGDOM. The soil of Borneo is very fertile, producing all that has made Sumatra and Java so famous. The flora is extensive and varied, the forests abounding in all the valuable woods and plants of the tropics, while the cultivation of the rattan, bamboo, banana, betel nut, cocoanut, bread-fruit, sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, lemon, orange, clove, rice, nutmeg, ginger and opium poppy are but a portion of the valuable products. The sago and date-palm, the ebony, gutta percha, toa, tomano, prima vera, sandal, camphor and cinnamon trees adorn the forests. The animal and mineral kingdoms are well represented; the former embracing the elephant and hippopotami, the rhinoceros, tiger and panther, the ourangutan and the different species of the monkey tribe, roam through the vast forests or prowl among the jungles. In the latter kingdom we find gold, silver, lead, antimony, tin, iron and coal. The beds of many of the streams teem with that valuable gem, the diamond, mining for which has formed one of the industries on this island for ages. Nor are the reptilian, finny or feathered species without an extensive representation. The swamps, morasses and forests are the homes of the great python, descending the scale through numerous species to the little coralilla, whose bite is certain death. The seas, rivers and bays teem with fish of all the species known in the tropics. Birds of the most beautiful and valuable plumage abound in the forest, while an endless variety of the aquatic kind frequent the pools, lakes and rivers. DIAMOND MINING One of the most valuable industries on the island of Borneo is diamond mining-a business followed in some countries for ages past. Borneo is not alone in her diamond-fields, as Sumatra, Australia and Tasmania have furnished some valuable gems. One found in the southwestern portion of Borneo, in the district of Mattan, and now in possession of the rajah of that region, weighs 367 carats, and is valued at something over $1,000,000. Golconda, a district between Cape Cormorin and the Bay of Bengal, has been a celebrated diamondfield for ages past. Tavenier described a gem found in this region and taken possession of by the Great Mogul, as weighing 900 carats. The diamond-fields of Brazil, located in, the Sierra de Frio, in the province of Minas Geraes, were discovered in 1728. A gem found here, and now belonging to the king of Portugal, weighs 1,680 carats, valued by some experts at the modest sum of $28.000,000. As a carat in diamond weight is equal to the 150th part of an ounce Troy, and nearly the 137th part of an averdupois ounce, we have in this diamond a gem weighing nearly a pound Troy, and about fourfifths of a pound averdupois. Brazil was for many years the principal diamond mining country, furnishing stones of great beauty and in great numbers to the world. In 1868 they were discovered in South Africa, where the district as far as known contains an area of 17,000 square miles. Many of the diamonds from this locality are of a yellowish cast, and not near so valuable as those found in other countries. The largest stone found here was the Stewart, weighing 2883% carats, and of fine quality. They are found in many other countries-in the Ural Mountains; in Hindostan; and in the United States, in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and California. In addition to those already mentioned, the fame of the Kohinoor, of England, weighing 279 carats; the Orloff, of Russia, 195 carats; the Regent, or Pitt, 13634; and the Sanci, 106 carats, is world wide. Previous to the 15th century the gems were worn in the rough, just as they came from the mines, and of course lacked the brilliancy given to them by cutting and polishing. This art was discovered by Louis von Bergnen, in the above century, and gave to the diamond a value unequalled by any other gem. Its uses in glass-cutting and in the manufacture of diamond-drills, for mining purposes, are so well known as to require no description here. In mining for diamonds similar processes to those in use in placer mining for gold are resorted to. They are found just below the later alluvial deposits, intermixed in the stratum of gravel, clay and rolled quartz lying over the bed-rock, once forming the beds of streams and gravel deposits. From this deposit the stratum is washed through sluices with an abundance of water, the diamonds being found among the heavier particles remaining in the sluices after the washing. The standard for valuing diamonds, presuming that they are of fair quality, is to multiply the square of the weight in carats by the value per carat. Taking the Kohinoor, for example: weight 279 carats, squared, would equal 77,844, which multiplied by the value, assuming it to be $20 per carat, would give $1,556,820. |