I will describe one of their gold-workings. They dammed up the end of the valley at the back of the kunsi’s house, thus forming a large reservoir of water, perhaps a quarter of a mile in length. The dam was very neatly constructed, being completely faced with wood towards the water, and partially on the outside, to enable it to resist the very heavy rains which fall in this country. A ditch, about four feet broad, was cut from the reservoir towards the ground which the overlooker of the company had selected as a spot likely to produce a good yield of gold, and a well-made sluice-gate was constructed in the dam to supply the ditch with as much water as might be required; minor sluice-gates to the main ditch enabled the smaller ones also to receive supplies of water. When this was all prepared, the sluice-gates were opened, and the earth in its neighbourhood thrown into the ditch, and the rushing water carried off the mud and sand and allowed the particles of gold to sink to the bottom. After three or four months they cleaned out the ditch and carefully washed the residue, which generally yielded them sufficient to make a tolerable division among the workmen after all the expenses had been paid. It is a very wasteful system of working gold; in fact, when we were there, all the women and girls, lately arrived from Sambas, had the privilege given them of washing the earth which had been swept away by the rushing water, and I believe they obtained as much in proportion to the number working as was divided among the men, who had had all the labour of constructing these extensive works. No one has yet taught them deep sinking; in fact, it is to be regretted that none of their countrymen accustomed to the method of procuring this precious metal in our Australian colonies have yet visited Sarawak. That there is an abundance of gold to be found there I verily believe, and, as an instance, I may notice that in November, 1848, a great landslip took place, and the face of the Trian mountain was laid bare. Some Malays, observing small pieces of gold mixed with the clay, began a strict search, and having great success, the news soon spread, and several thousand people flocked to the spot, where they worked till the heap of earth and stone was cleared away. All had fair success, and we heard of none who got less than an ounce and a half per month. The work lasted above six weeks. I saw one nugget picked up, which weighed about seven ounces.