Gold

ピガフェッタの『航海記』 [@pigafetta-voyage]によれば、 Cabanaza では金が取れるという。

[@wittouck-timor] p.348 によれば Manufai に金があるのは周知の事実だという。 これは Manufahi かしらん。

p. 349 に金の採掘の様子の詳細な記述がある。

Placer mining has been carried on in a desultory fashion in the southern part of the district by natives. The Timorese method of washing gold is probably the most primitive in the world. It is done by placing in a ditch a piece of sandstone half an inch to 22 inches thick, 6 to 10 inches long, and 4 to 6 inches wide. A stream of water about '2 inch deep is allowed to flow through the ditch and over the stone, which is placed so that it slopes slightly downstream. Gold-bearing gravels are dug out of the bank, coconut shells being used for scoops, and are then gathered in wooden pans; the gravel is poured slowly over the washing stone, the material mixing with the stream of water. Gold is then picked from the sandstone and put in quills. The amount of gravel that can be handled by this method is naturally very small. As the water-level in the gravels is usually high, the natives rarely get near bed-rock. All the gold particles appear to be rough, and flour gold is not usually found; the largest nugget observed in the district weighed 107 grammes, and quite a number weighing io grammes and more were panned in I936. The rivers reported to have produced the most are the Sue river, the south Laclo, and the Cler.