THE MATAN.	51
	genuine diamond of which there is any record." We are not in a position to express a definite opinion upon the genuineness of the stone. There are travel­lers who are as emphatic in their belief as to its reality, as others are in denouncing it. The question is who among them have seen the original stone, and who only a model of it; for it is alleged that the Sultan only exhibits the latter under very special circumstances. It was found apparently in the year 1787 in the Landak mines near the west coast of Borneo. The town of Landak, the centre of this rich mining district, which is said to abound in gold, diamonds, and iron, lies to the north-east of Pontianak, a little north of the equator, and in 1090 53' E. long. The district is comprised within the territory of the Rajah of Matan, which stretches along the west coast, between Pon­tianak and Sarawak, and which has long been subject to the Dutch. The diamond takes its name from the Rajah of the territory, in whose family it has remained ever since its discovery. Very little being known regarding these Borneo diamantiferous regions, the subjoined particulars may be found interesting. Those of Landak are amongst the oldest and most productive in the world, and have been worked,though not very systematically, ever since the establishment of Malay settlements on the coast. Here diamonds are found not only in the river beds when dry, but also in their original sites at the foot of the mountains. The diggings are usually carried to a depth of from ten to thirty feet, and constant experi­ence has shown that the deeper they are dug the gems are both more plentiful, and of larger size and