were found in possession of the knowledge of malleable iron. In the two principal
languages of these islands, we find, therefore, names for it distinct from the Malay
one ; for in the Tagala it is called balakal, and in the Bisaya, salsalon. The Malay
name for steel, baja, is even more general through the Archipelago than that for iron.
In Javanese it is the only name, with the exception of a factitious one for the polite
language, which signifies “ perverse or refractory.” But here, as in the case of iron,
the Malay name is not the only one, for the Kayan of Borneo, and the Bisaya of the
Philippines, have national ones. With respect, however, to both iron and steel, it
is to be observed that the Malay names seem to have superseded native ones, where
the influence of the Malays and their language have been extensive, as in the examples
^of most of the wild tribes of Borneo. Seemingly in the same manner, the
Spanish word for steel, acero, has superseded a native one in the Tagala of the
Philippines ; while the original one has been preserved in the Bisaya of the same
islands. The names of the tools and implements connected with the manufacture
of iron, and of its productions, such as bellows, anvil, hammer, tongs, file, chisel,
saw, nail, knife, kris, of the Malay language, extend to the principal languages of
Java, Bali, Lomboc, and Celebes; and a few of them even to the languages of the
Philippines. In the latter, however, most of them are native words, and all of them
seem to be so in the language of the Kayans of Borneo. The inference then to be
drawn from all these facts is, that the fabrication of iron and steel are native
inventions,-—-that these metals were first manufactured in the non-volcanic countries,
and that the discovery was made at several independent points, as Sumatra, Borneo,
and Luzon in the Philippines.
The countries of the Archipelago in which iron ore seems to be most abundant,
are, as already stated, Sumatra, in the interior country of Menangkabo, where iron
has been immemorially smelted and manufactured for all Sumatra, and even for
some of the other islands,--—the Malay Peninsula,—its adjacent islands, and Borneo.
In the Peninsula the ore, although not smelted at least to any extent, is very abundant;
and for this we have the authority of a personal observer and a man of
science. Mr. J. R. Logan, in his account of the physical geography of the Peninsula,
informs us that “ Iron ores are everywhere found, and in the south they exist in
vast profusion: In some places the strata have been completely saturated with iron ;
and here, the bare surface of the ground, strewed with blackish scoriform gravel and
blocks, presents a strange contrast to the exuberant vegetation of surrounding
tracts, appearing as if it had been burnt and blasted by subterraneous fires. Much
of the ordinary forms of iron-masked rocks, which are common, and so little regarded
for their metallic contents that in Singapore they are used to macadamise the roads,
contain often near 60 per cent, of pure metal.”—Journal of the Indian Archipelago ;
Vol. ii., p. 102. In the islands of Banca and Billiton iron ore is very abundant; and
in the last of them, good iron appears to have heen manufactured, at one time, by
its Malay inhabitants. But of all the Archipelago, the country in which iron ore is
best in quality and most abundant is Borneo. On this subject we have the testimony
of several different and competent observers ; and as the subject is of importance,
in an economic and commercial view, I shall quote their opinions at some
length, premising that the ore is found and worked from the fifth degree of north
latitude on the north-western side of the island to the equator on the southern, and
to the 4th degree of south latitude on the western ; and smelted at many points
within this wide range. “ The Dusun iron ore,” says a writer on the manufacture
of iron, in the Moniteur des Indes, whose information is drawn from an essay on
this subject in the Transactions of the Batavian Society : “ is found in the ravines,
the rivers, and even in the plains of the province which gives its name ; and in which
whole families are to be seen almost constantly employed in searching for, extracting
and smelting it. In general the ore is found at the depth of a mètre (39’37 inches)
from the surface, but in the dry season it is obtained from the bed of the main
river, the Dusun. This mineral, contains much ferruginous acid, and appears to
have particular properties which give it much analogy with the wotz of continental
India. The Malays of Banjarmasin distinguish two kinds of the ore,—that
of the river, and that of the mountains ; the last characterised by its hardness and
its brown-coloured fracture.”
The process of smelting is thus described by the same authority. “ In order to
smelt this ore, the Dusuns (the name of one of the wild tribes,) make a clay furnace
D25 mètres in height, and 1'5 in diameter. This, of which the walls are 62 centimes
of a mètre in thickness, is furnished' with a chimney and a pair of bellows, with an
opening having an iron grating for the flow of the slag. They begin by roasting
the ore on a wooden fire; and having broken it, they p l a c e ff m the f u t n ^ between
two bods of charcoal. A workman then begins to blow the bellows, at first gently,
and then with more force, so as to raise the heat to the greatest possible degree.
When the metal is considered sufficiently reduced, it is allowed to run on the
ground more of the consistence of a paste than a fluid. In this state it is stirred
about scummed, and the impurities, which it still retains, passed into a gutter under
a grating The metal is then replaced in the furnace, and kept there until sufficiently
coM to be subjected to the hammer. Finally, it is cut into small bars of 62 centimes
of a kilogramme on an anvil, similar to that of our own blacksmiths. The
price of a cattie (lilb. English,) is from 30 to 35 centimes of a franc, if of the first
quality; and 25 if of the second. On the spot, the value of Dusun iron compared
with English, is as 25 to 21; and of Dusun steel to English, as 25 to 20
The country of the Dusuns, who manufacture this iron, lies between the first
and second degrees of south latitude; and the 115thdegree of east longitude runs
tbMnSRobert Bums, who visited the tribe of the Kayans from the north-eastern
coast, gives a very similar account of the manufacture of iron among them. He says
they are industrious, and among other examples adduces u their knowledge of the
manufacture of iron and steel from the native ore.” “ This knowledge must, he
adds, “ have greatly tended to keep them independent and superior in power to the
other aboriginal tribes of the islands. From the native ore they make their woodcutting
implements, spears, and swords, and many other articles in use. Commonly,
at every village, there is a place for smelting iron, in all the process of which the
community mutually partake. Covered by a shade, the rude furnace consists of a
circular pit, formed in the ground 3 feet deep and 4 feet in diameter. Previous to
the smelting process, the ore is roasted and broken into small pieces. The coals
(charcoal) in the furnace being set fire to and well kindled, the prepared ore is placed
over them in alternate layers with coals. The ventilators used consist of wooden
tubes, 10 to 12 in number, about 6 feet long, and placed vertically round the furnace.
The bore of each is about 7 inches in diameter, and the pistons to correspond are
armed with cloth or soft bark. Attached to the piston rods are others of considerable
length, to which weights are made fast and balanced on the cross-beams of the
shed. By this contrivance the pistons are moved up and down, and a constant blast
produced, which is led by clay pipes from the orifice at the bottom of each tube into
the furnace. In the smelting process there is no flux used with the ore which yields
about 70 per cent, of iron. The iron manufactured from the ore of the above district
is much preferred to that of Europe by the Malays and other natives of Borneo as
being superior.” Journal of the Indian Archipelago, vol. iiL, p. 151. The district
referred to in the last sentence, and which equally abounds in fossil coal as in iron
ore, extends from the river Baram to that of the Pajang, or from about 2° 30' north
latitude to 4° 50'.
Mr. Dalton, an English traveller, who visited the Kayans in 1828, and lived for
several months among them, gives the following account of their manufacture on the
southern side of the island about the equator, and the 117° of east longitude.
% Having but briefly mentioned the excellence of the iron and steel of these people,
it may not be amiss to say something more on the subject, it being little understood
how much the Dyaks excel in these articles. The iron found all along the coast of
Borneo is of a very superior quality, which every person must know who has visited
Pontianak and Sambas. At Banjarmasin, however, it is much superior; they have
there a method of working it which precludes all necessity of European steel,
excepting for cock’s-spurs, which they prefer when made from a razor. But the best
iron of Banjarmasin is not equal to that worked by the rudest Dyaks. All the best
kris blades of the Bugis rajahs and chiefs are manufactured by them, and it is a most
singular but an undoubted fact, that the further a person advances, the better will be
found all instruments of iron. Seiji’s (the native chief with whom the traveller
resided) country is superior in this respect to all those nearer the coast, his goloks
(cutlasses), spears, and kris-blades being in great demand. I have counted 49 forges at
work merely in the campung of Marpao (the chief village), but theMandaos (swords) and
spears which he uses himself and gives to his favourite warriors are obtained, iron-made,
further north. Instruments made of this last will cut through overwrought iron and
common steel with ease. I have had several pen-knives shaved to pieces with them
by way of experiment, and one day having bet a wager of a few rupees with Seiji
that he would not cut through an old musket barrel, he without hesitation put the
end of it on a block of wood and chopped it to pieces without in the least turning the