226 ‘ /.
MiiJer'aI
Ifles.
S I A M. $
Spiles «evinced; not'to mention the great quantitj^ofrgo^^hich ^rpuft
hav-elbeen<employed in richly/gilding;the.idols,.piUarg, pielingsrand: eyen
r-oefs of theirJtemple&b In his time, though Europeans were enjploye$,
no mine'OpgbW or filver could be fourid which .was wortE tht wprM^g,
Yet foihecopper mines^Were diTcovered, which yielded a fmall proppr-
tLon of gold : and a larger proportion conftituted the metal called t
:• The beft native1 tambac -was found in the ifle'of Bornep. Le Blanc fays
that the Peguefe had a mixture, probably artifical, bf copper, and lead,
which they Tailed gatiza,
1 Loubere adds that a ' French phyfician employed by the 'Siamefe‘|cto-
natch, had difcovered- antimony, emery,'and fome atherjmmer>alk?Jwith
' a quarry of white marble. He alfo boafted that he .ha:d found;* imine
of gold, which he concealed from the natives.
But the mine? chiefly wrought by the Siamefc Were of tin anddead.
The tin, called calin by the Portuguefe, was fold thrbugboht-the Judies;
but was foft and ill refined, as it appeared in the” tea-iGanni'fter&ihen
ufed. Loubere adds, that zink was added- to- form? tutenag; <an- enrbr,
for tutenag-is a native mixture of zintand iron. -JEnhhother paflage he
inforths us that all the tin, except that of Junkfeylpn,*-was a myaKfmr-
quffite*1’ ■ v. : ” 1 ‘
‘ Near Louvo was a mountain of load-done : and another in Junkfey-
Ion of inferior quality. Fine agates abounded in the mountains, not?
were fapphires unknown; but: the addition of diamonds feems doubtful,
if the doubt be not: a negation that To precious a fubftanee ffiould remain
fo long unknown. - The mines o f jle e l, mentioned by our author,
feem to imply a pure iron eafily converted into fteel,, or rather a carbonated
ore of iron, which was however fo little wrought that wooden anchors
were ufed.
- The chorography of Siam is too imperfedfc to fupply any account of
- mineral waters, or natural curiofities.
Among-the numerous and minute ifles which owe a doubtful fubjec-
tion to Siam, Junkfeylon alone deferves mention, if it be not reduced
under the power of the Birmans. By Captain Foreft’s account, who
1 1 287-
vifited
L A O S.
vifited" this ifle in 1784,'uiannuaHy exports about 500; tons' of tin, anl Isle«.
•Contains 12)060 inhabitants.'
227
rr^ HE "other ft-ates o f ‘'exterior India are Laos, «Gambia, Siampa,
1 i#o»®hma , and Tunquin'; countries unimportant ‘in them-
felvls, and cbn5&mhg;whi^h.'the materials are imperfedt. *
B K h m H
| S m 'anil daerffi--and-difficult of idrefs by water, beoiuferthe nTer
m " * " I But by of
Mrenrefehlte di^ats fer 1tile1 in1 .r1ice ;M and TSaoWs iurmWmeu B M orf
Cambodia with the beThenjoin aud lacca.
the frefli water ,mya, which yields pearis,. - AUU J r « / t
refemble thofe ofJiam ; but in °f K
r e r em b lo irh ctr p uta.ihlin^'*fe* T'he chief t c w ^ n § i n Kseinpfers
i «m " 'ftom:the thVt'tople
ftate of further India,
A & g | | M | M p
'•_ g g 2 {;i p j . by
£±sm!