68 DIAMONDS OF BORNEO book ii
all
the islands in the world, a river called Succadan, in the sand of which
beautiful stones are found, which have the same hardness as those of
the river Koel, or of the other mines of which I have made mention.
General
Vandime once sent me at Surat six of them, of 3 to 4 carats each, from
Batavia, and he believed that they were not so hard as those from other
mines, in which he was mistaken, because there is no difference in that
respect; it was in order to ascertain the fact that he sent them to me.
When I was at Batavia one of the chief officers of the Company showed
me a point naive of 25 1/2 carats, a perfect stone, obtained in
this river of Succadan. But at the price which he told me it had cost
him he had paid more than 50 per cent, than I should have been willing
to give for it. It is true that I have always heard that these stones
are very dear. The principal reason which has prevented me from going
to this river of Borneo is that the Queen of the Island does not allow
foreigners to carry away the stones, and there are great difficulties
in conveying them thence—the insignificant number which are carried
away secretly are sold at Batavia. I shall be asked, without doubt, why
I only mention the Queen of Borneo, and not the King. The reason is
that in this Kingdom it is the women who govern and not the men,
because the people are so particular about having for their sovereign a
legitimate heir to the throne that, the husband not being certain that
the children which he believes he has had by his wife are his very own,
and the wife being, on the contrary, quite certain that the children
are hers,
precious
stones which does not erroneously cite Malacca as a diamond locality.
Mr. D. F. A. Hervey states that Tanjongpura is situated about 30 miles
up the river Pawan in the northern portion of the Matang District
adjoining Soekadana, according to De Carubee's Netherlands India Maps.
The question of the distribution and mode of occurrence of diamonds in
Borneo, though now well understood, is too large to enter upon here.
Probably the best account is by Dr. Theodor Posewitz. (Vide Mith. a. d. Jahrb. d. Kgl. Vng. Oeolog. Anst., Bd. vii, 1885; see Appendix.) On diamonds at Soekadana see Purchas, Pilgrimes, ed.
1625, i. 223, 393. ' Borneo is amazingly rich in minerals, gold,
silver, coal, iron, and even diamonds being won from it, mostly by the
industrious Chinese ' (The Times, 24 May, 1921).
