Borneo: Its Geology and Mineral Resources
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ANNEX ASIA w: LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY L DATE DUE &£M QG. SI BORNEO; ITS GEOLOGY AND MIKEEAL RESOURCES. DE. THEODOE POSEWITZ, MEMBER OP THE ROYAL HUNGARIAN INSTITOTB, BUDAPEST. TRANSLATBD TEOM THE GEEMAN BY FEEDEEICK H. HATCH, Ph.D., F.G.S. OP THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ENGLAND AND WALES.. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON: EDWAED STANFOEB/''"* 26 & 27 COCKSPUE STREET, CHARING CROSS, S.W. 1892 \jrhe right of iranslaUon reserved.'], , Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924009555594 TO HEEE P. VAN DIJK, KNIGHT OF THE LION, OBDBR OF THE NBTHBELANDS ; CHIEF OF THE MINES IN THE BUTCH INDIES; THE ZEALOUS PROMOTER OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH; IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE TEARS SPENT IN THE DUTCH COLONIES, • PEEFACE. A THEEE years' residence in Borneo furnished me with the opportunity of making myself in some degree acquainted with the geology of that island. I lived for some time in the marshy districts in the southern part of the island (Bandjermassin): for several months I stayed in the dry plains (Diluvium) surrounding the mountain-chain which separates South from East Borneo, and had daily op- portunities of studying these mountains (Barabei): I also resided in the Tertiary hill-land on the great river Barito, in the heart of the island, about four kilometres from the equator (Teweh) : and before leaving Borneo I had an opportunity of visiting the coal mine in Pengaron, and of making an excursion into the charming district of Tanah- Laut, which presents in miniature the geological struc- ture of Borneo. As far as possible, in districts so far removed from civilisation, I made myself acquainted with the existing literature, and worked out my notes. I completed my work in the well-stocked library of the "G-enootschap voor Kunst en Wetenschappen," in Batavia. Here I con- sulted the earlier Dutch literature, which is not every- where accessible: and, on returning to Europe, I studied more recent writings. VI PEEFAOE. In the present work I purpose giving an historical summary of the more important investigations, and a sketch of the present position of our knowledge of the geography and geology of Borneo. I am well aware that it is a difficult task to write a description of an island which in part is wholly unknown, of which the separate districts have only been cursorily traversed, and of which, relatively, few parts are at all well known to us. But, since, on the one hand, no attempt has ever been made to give a connected account of this island, and, on the other, the Dutch literature is practically unknown out of Holland, T believe that I am doing the reading public some service in summarizing the whole of the more im- portant literature, the more so, as two-thirds of the island have been treated only by Dutch writers. The chief part of the literature on Borneo consists of Dutch, and small part also of English writings; while the articles published in other languages are, with few exceptions, compilations drawn from English sources, the Dutch works being unavailable on account of the prevail- ing ignorance of that langualge. As a natural consequence the knowledge of Dutch Borneo is, except in the mother-country, very small, in spite of the fact that the existing Dutch literature is fairly copious. Without knowledge of the latter, however, it is impos- sible to give an exact picture of our present information, and this ignorance of the Dutch literature outside Holland .PKEFAOE. Vll is clearly shown in some of the foreign pubUoations; Thus -when the Austrian corvette (" Friedrich ") in the years 1874 to 1876, navigated a portion of the coast of Borneo, Lehnert (in the book entitled "TJm die Erde"), maintained that the whole of the island was as unknown as the interior of Africa; and in an article in the journal Amlarid (No. 40 and 41, 1878), there are similar inaccuracies. These mistaken views have already been combated by Professor Veth in the Preface to Rosenberg's work on the Malay Archipelago, and the correctness of Veth's state- ments have been recognised by the Ausland, in an article on the exploration of Borneo (1879, No. 75). Equally erroneous are statements made by Schweiger- Lerchenfeld (" Borneo-Oesterreichische Monatsschrift ftir den Orient," 1886, No. 4). This writer says:—"Next to some districts in Central Africa, there are at present no countries so unknown as the two largest islands of our planet—Borneo and New Guinea. Our informa;tion with regard to both is restricted to the coast-line, and a few patches in the interior of the islands With regard to the geological structure of the interior of the island (Borneo), there exist only suppositions Up to the present no one has succeeded in navigating the larger rivers for any distance from the mouth. ." and other similar inaccuracies. This treatise furnishes, by the way, a fairly accurate guage of the ideas prevailing outside Holland with re- gard to Borneo. North Borneo is treated relatively more VUl PKEFACE. in detail, as more information is available; with regard to Dutch Borneo, on the other hand, Schweiger-Lerchenfeld gets his data from Lehnert, Oesterreicher, and Carl Book. While, no doubt, the Dutch are right in complaining of the gross ignorance of their literature, one cannot blame those who are unacquainted with the language, for passing over purely Dutch writings. In the present work, however, the whole of the Dutch literature has been utilized, and a more complete picture of the island is given than has hitherto appeared in the German language. May it be judged truly but justly. In conclusion I have to thank those gentlemen who have helped me in my work: in the first place, the mining-engineers with whom I became acquainted in the Dutch Indies, and chief among these, the then director of the mines in Batavia, P. Van Dijk; further the directors of the magnificent library of the "Bataviaasch Genootschap voor Kunst en Wetenschappen " ; Mr. A. H. Everett, of Labuan; and last, but not least, the renowned specialist in affairs of the Dutch Indies, Professor P. J. Veth, of Holland. — — INDEX TO THE LITEEATUEE. The whole of the literature dealing with Borneo is arranged chronologically, and, for purposes of ready reference, divided into five groups : into works of a general character, and into treatises dealing specially with South, "West, East, and North Borneo. Many of the journals, especially those which occur frequently, are indi- cated by abbreviations, as follows : The separate groups are indicated by letters : T. V. N. I. = Tydschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indie. n. T. V. N. I. = natuurkundig tydschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indie. T. V. N. en L. = Tydschrift voor Nyverheid en Landbouw. J. v/h M. in N. I.=Jaarboek van hetMynwezen in Nederslandsoh- Indie. T. aardr. gen. Amst. = Tydschrift van het aardrykskundig genootschap te Amsterdam. Byrd. T. L. en V. v. N. I. = Bydragen tot de taal-,land- en volken- kunde van Nederlandsch-Indie. T. ind. T. L. en V. = Tydschrift voor indische taal-, land- en volken- kunde. Jahrb. Min. u. Geol. = Jahrbiich fUr Mineralogie und Geologie. Min. Mitt. Tschermak = Mineralogische Mittheilungeu von Tschermak. Mitt, geogr. Ges. Wien = Mittheilungen der k. k. geographisohen Ge- sellschaft in Wien. Jahrb. u. geol. Anstalt = Jahrbuch der k. nng. geologischen Anstalt. Jahrb. geol. Eeichsanst. = Jahrbuch der k. k. geologischen Eeichsanstalt in Wien. Quart. Jouxn. Geol. Soc. = Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. Journ. Geogr. Soc. of London = Journal of the Eoyal Geographical -_ Society of London. Proo. Geogr. Soc. London = Proceedings of the Eoyal Geographical Society of London. Journ. St. Br. E. Asiat. Soc. = Journal of the Straits Branch of the Eoyal Asiatic Society. Treatises dealing with Borneo generally by B. ,, ,, S. Borneo ,, S. „ W. „ „ W. JJ >! E. „ ,, E. j> JJ ^^* JJ JJ ^^' Each of thest is numbered serially. — X INDEX TO THE LITERATUEE. In order to avoid quoting the whole of the title of a treatise, the number and letter is given, by means of which the treatise indicated can be found in : in Vet. the Index of Literature. For example —Eant S. 20 = Rant : Ijzerert Tauah-Laut n. T. v. N. I, or Hatton N". 48 = F. Hatton, North Borneo, etc. The Malay words are spelt in the German manner. Thus instead of the Dutch CB, I write a, which also corresponds with the English method. Lists of literature are given in the following works: Veth = W. 17 complete. Kan = B. 47. Le Monnier = TS. 40. De Seyff = B. 8. Verbeek in J v/h M. (Indian treatises). I.—TREATISES WHICH DEAL WITH BORNEO IN GENERAL = B. 1. 0. L. M. Eadermacher. " Beschryving van het eiland Borneo, voor zoo ver hetzelfde tot nu toe bekend is." (Verhand. Bat. Gen.) 1826 II. 2. E. Miiller. " Levensberigt van G. Miiller." (Indische Bij. p. 177-194). 3. P. Melville van Carnbee. " Over de hoogte der bergen in den ost-indi- sohen Archipel." (T. v. N. I.) 1844 I. 4. De dood van G. Miiller. (" Naar mededeelingen van Dr. Schwaner.") T. V. N. I. 1849 I p. 139. 5. " Jets omtrept de Borneo-sche steenkolen." (Indisoh archief) 1850. 6. " Rapport betreffende de exploitatie van myneu in Ned. Indie." (T. v. N. L) 1851 IL 7. " Verslag van proeven met indische steenkolen genomen in April 1852 aan boord van Z. M. stoomschip Vesuvius door. " C. de Groot, P. A. Matthyssen en J. F. Koopman. (n. t. v. N. I.) Ill 1852. 8. E. F. de Seyif. " Overzicht der geographische en topographische verrig- tingen gedurende onze heerschappy in den indischen archipel." (n.