On The 24th Of February My Friend Mr. Geach Left Timor, Having Finally
Reported That No Minerals Worth Working Were To Be Found.
The
Portuguese were very much annoyed, having made up their minds that
copper is abundant, and still believing it to be so.
It appears that
from time immemorial pure native copper has been found at a place on
the coast about thirty miles east of Delli.
The natives say they find it in the bed of a ravine, and many years
ago a captain of a vessel is said to have got some hundreds-weight of
it. Now, however, it is evidently very scarce, as during the two years
Mr. Geach resided in the country, none was found. I was shown one
piece several pounds' weight, having much the appearance of one of the
larger Australian nuggets, but of pure copper instead of gold. The
natives and the Portuguese have very naturally imagined that where
these fragments come from there must be more; and they have a report
or tradition, that a mountain at the head of the ravine is almost pure
copper, and of course of immense value.
After much difficulty a company was at length formed to work the
copper mountain, a Portuguese merchant of Singapore supplying most of
the capital. So confident were they of the existence of the copper,
that they thought it would be waste of time and money to have any
exploration made first; and accordingly, sent to England for a mining
engineer, who was to bring out all necessary tools, machinery,
laboratory, utensils, a number of mechanics, and stores of all kinds
for two years, in order to commence work on a copper-mine which he was
told was already discovered. On reaching Singapore a ship was
freighted to take the men and stores to Timor, where they at length
arrived after much delay, a long voyage, and very great expense.
A day was then fixed to "open the mines." Captain Hart accompanied Mr.
Geach as interpreter. The Governor, the Commandante, the Judge, and
all the chief people of the place went in state to the mountain, with
Mr. Geach's assistant and some of the workmen. As they went up the
valley Mr. Leach examined the rocks, but saw no signs of copper. They
went on and on, but still nothing except a few mere traces of very
poor ore. At length they stood on the copper mountain itself. The
Governor stopped, the officials formed a circle, and he then addressed
them, saying, that at length the day had arrived they had all been so
long expecting, when the treasures of the soil of Timor would be
brought to light, and much more in very graandiloquent Portuguese;
and concluded by turning to Mr. Leach, and requesting him to point out
the best spot for them to begin work at once, and uncover the mass of
virgin copper. As the ravines and precipices among which they had
passed, and which had been carefully examined, revealed very clearly
the nature and mineral constitution of the country, Mr. Geach simply
told them that there was not a trace of copper there, and that it was
perfectly useless to begin work. The audience were thunderstruck! The
Governor could not believe his ears. At length, when Mr. Geach had
repeated his statement, the Governor told him severely that he was
mistaken; that they all knew there was copper there in abundance, and
all they wanted him to tell them, as a mining-engineer, was how best
to get at it; and that at all events he was to begin work somewhere.
This Mr. Geach refused to do, trying to explain that the ravines had
cut far deeper into the hill than he could do in years, and that he
would not throw away money or time on any such useless attempt. After
this speech had been interpreted to him, the Governor saw it was no
use, and without saying a word turned his horse and rode away, leaving
my friends alone on the mountain. They all believed there was some
conspiracy that the Englishman would not find the copper, and that
they had been cruelly betrayed.
Mr. Geach then wrote to the Singapore merchant who was his employer,
and it was arranged that he should send the mechanics home again, and
himself explore the country for minerals. At first the Government
threw obstacles in his way and entirely prevented his moving; but at
length he was allowed to travel about, and for more than a year he and
his assistant explored the eastern part of Timor, crossing it in
several places from sea to sea, and ascending every important valley,
without finding any minerals that would pay the expense of working.
Copper ore exists in several places, but always too poor in quality.
The best would pay well if situated in England; but in the interior of
an utterly barren country, with roads to make, and all skilled labour
and materials to import, it would have been a losing concern. Gold
also occurs, but very sparingly and of poor quality. A fine spring of
pure petroleum was discovered far in the interior, where it can never
be available until the country is civilized. The whole affair was a
dreadful disappointment to the Portuguese Government, who had
considered it such a certain thing that they had contracted for the
Dutch mail steamers to stop at Delli and several vessels from
Australia were induced to come with miscellaneous cargoes, for which
they expected to find a ready sale among the population at the newly-
opened mines. The lumps of native copper are still, however, a
mystery. Mr. Geach has examined the country in every direction without
being able to trace their origin; so that it seems probable that they
result from the debris of old copper-bearing strata, and are not
really more abundant than gold nuggets are in Australia or California.
A high reward was offered to any native who should find a piece and
show the exact spot where he obtained it, but without effect.
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