as early as tin, or at least five hundred years before
Solomon commenced building his splendid temple.
Gold is also found in the western and southern
parts of Borneo, and in some places on Luzon and
Magindanao, in the Philippine Archipelago. As we
have already noticed, it is found on Bachian, and, in
the northern and southern peninsulas of Celebes. It
is indeed one of the most widely-distributed metals
obtained in the archipelago. It is not only found
on many of the islands that are not wholly of volcanic
origin, between Asia and Australia, but also
from place to place over both of those continents.
The quantity obtained here, on Sumatra, is wholly
unknown, but, judging from what is used in ornaments,
it must be very considerable. It is always
bought and sold in the form of “ dust,” and has never
been coined for money in any part of the archipelago,
except at Achin.
CHAPTER XHI.
TO THE LAND OE THE CANNIBALS.
February 2 6th.—-At 7 a . m . rode down the edge
of the plateau to the bottom of a deep ravine, and
then climbed up the opposite ridge. Here we met
all the rajahs and their attendants in the vicinity, and
again descended to the bottom of a second ravine to
the little village of Pisang. As the way was exceedingly
rough, I preferred to ride a nice horse the contrôleur
had given me, to being jolted in the carriage.
Beyond Pisang our road lay in a narrow valley, and,
as the sky was clear and the neighboring hills prevented
any breeze from reaching us, we seemed to be
at the focus of a great burning lens. In the thick
woods on either hand troops of large, black monkeys
kept up a hooting or trumpeting, their prolonged
cries sounding exactly like a score of amateurs practising
on trombones. In some places the din they made
was quite deafening. In one place the road passed
through a deep cut through strata, composed of sand
and conglomerate, which probably once filled the
whole valley. From Pisang, which is at an elevation
of seventeen hundred feet, we continued to descend
until we came to the small valley of Bondyol,
which is only seven hundred and forty feet above the