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Show TIN Mi;j.C IN BANKA AND ' B! LLITAN. Tin appears only either as .ii!i'ilde , or bio-oxikic (c..-lU.Tite). Tm as A sulphide, is very rare, but as a bin- oxide it occurs qaite frequently, and i is futind in Uanka, Malacca, Iiilliun, Savuv. Knuland. Bohemia, Barman, Spain,' Brazil, Mcxic. I'bih; and California. Cali-fornia. I'Ut especially in Banka anel BilliUin. in tiie al Indies. It appears in Banka :ts "trt'am tin, black, n-1, eiaik and iitit brown in eolor, and as ledce tin. At present the Dutch government uii-ly uii-ly R'ork'i the stream tin hi Banka. which is deposited in the valleys and canons in enormous quantities. '1 :ie beds are from nine to. thirty fee-t el.-ep. and eem.ii-t of mud, n clay, bhu' clay, coarse and line grave! anel tin. Tiie tin beds are generally uuin tierce to twenty-two inches d -., b::l in rf.me localities st'll d.v-pvr. Kaolin or porCelaTn earth appeal's b..l..w tiie line gravel, and the'ieis no hpe ot nu'lmg tm bcilow Uiat. Toexamiat; the miuru! capacity of the valleys, cuts are run ai r.s them, at PX' yards distance fioni eacli other. Three inch holes are Immt in these cuts, from twenty to twenty -five varels apart, witii an ai teinr. Itorer; a copper pipe', which sinks, together with the lurer, prevents the , sides of Lhe holes from falling in, and an exact quantity of tin is taken fromVach hole, Tne'iin extract etl from all tliese different licks is earefully washeel in pans, and then weiglu-el, ami a calculation is made as to the probable rh.hnc.s of the valley, or parts thereof. Mines are then laid out t be worked during the hot season, sea-son, which continues eitrht months. Tiie remaining- four months of the year, which form the rainy season, are oecupieel in smelting. All of the mines are wnrkeeh under the superintendence of European engineers en-gineers and overseers, with companies from sixty to three hundred Chinese. The borings are done partly by Malay chamgang prisoners, and partly by Chinese. Work on these" surface mines is begun from the lower enel of the valley. val-ley. Before commencing operations, a dam is made acros3 the valley, and the water drained off by nvans of ditches, which are used iu the process of washing. The water from the mines is removed by means of chain-pumps;. chain-pumps;. The gravel from the new mines is disposed of by being thrown back into the old holes. The treatmeut of the tin ia very simple for those who understand it. After being washed out, the mineral ia taken to be roasted in a revixberat-ory revixberat-ory furnace for tho purpose of tret ting rid of the arsenic anel separating the sulphides of iron and copper. The roast eel masses arc then placed in large tubs of water, where the sulphides sulp-hides of iron and cooper dissolve, anel the oxides of tin, iron and copper set- tie down. The separation of the suip-I suip-I hate is performed by evaporation and I crystalization. The oxides are exposed for several tlajs to the air, and after-wards after-wards workcel. ' Then the oxides are mixed up with charcoal and put in a blast furnace. This is a vertical cylinder cylin-der of cast iron, nine feot high, covered cover-ed with clay,- into which" air is blown by means of a bellows through the " pipe. In the bottom part the coalide is gathereel together and attacks the oxiele of tin, so that the liquid tin runs with tho slag into a trough outside out-side the furnace. from time to time the floating slag? are taken ofl, and when tiie trough is full the vent is opened and the metal runs into a second trough. In this trough the remaining foreign substances sub-stances are taken oil'. This is done by taking pieces of wet greenwood, putting tbeth on'an iron rod, and dipping dip-ping liicm in the melted mass. The charring of this green woexl produces steam and causes the foreign substances sub-stances to float, so that they are readily read-ily taken oft. By this method the tin in Banka is the best in the market. mar-ket. It is so It, -pliable, easily stretched, stretch-ed, very clear, a ad of a shining bluish white cole'r, and easily :ia lied. !. The L'overnmcnt .s'-iimlKs the Chi- i nee-only with the niinhv: engineer, firemen and furnaces. Also with ryst, cocoanut oil, salt, and dry figs at co.-t prices. Thev have to supply themselves them-selves with everything else at their own expense, as tools, chain pumps, etc. TiK'y received liom j the geyernmcnt - $oaO gold for ! each hundredth pounds ot cast ; tin. so they are enabled to make considerable con-siderable money wtien industrious The clear profit to the Government, while I was in Uanka nmnunb'd lo $5,000. 0") Knld per annum.- The veins of tin in lianka are - very rich and extensive, Uit as (he Government reaps so iinmer.se profits wiih very little expense from the stream tin, it docs not yet work the Kdgis, just as the old miners in the early years us -d to do in California anel Nevada by working placer mines and neglecting the quartz vein, lianka is divided into the following mining distriels: Merandang, Tonkal, Penang, Toon- 1 I pie, Ciat. Tocmgie. Ian. Tohoahe, 1 i Kol'ie, Zerhooa and Muut'jk. The last ' place is the residene-e of theGmvrnoj . : Banka pi-enluccs plci.ly of timlier of ! fine (jinslily, such as iron wood and' ebony. In the "and around the coast is some gold, but very little. The valleys are all full of water, and ! are marshy anel swampy, being large-1 large-1 ly inhabited by croeoeliles, bua-eon- strieters, wilel Injars, monkeys, the 1 most venenious serpents, scoipions, . centipedes, mosquiteies, parrots, blackbirds, black-birds, wild fowls, pheasants-, pigeons, etc. j On account ' .of the great , morasses, ...the ground is little ' cultivated ; and rice and other pro-' pro-' visions have -to-be got from dava and Sumatra. Banka is also renowned in the Iu-eli-.in Archipelago for its silk-wi-avini., silk-coloring and I'lnbn'ieieiy in gold. There are silks cniLroideivd Willi gold that are two yards long iM'd one' vani wide, and which cost from sf i'J to $i'.v , a piece. 'l'he suiroundiiig e-a lont.iius tb.e mo.-t delicious fi-fi- ri-' ov.i. t; 1. ,' .- titers ami shrimps. The climate of Banka is v :y un-liPaitliy. un-liPaitliy. - Juuglc-ihver, cholura. dvs-Hutry dvs-Hutry mid diivrrlion i are very oual ' there and hr.ve given it the name uf "Cemetery of India "V. lh-MniLvrj:. |