more than a king's
ransom if we take into account the sacrifice of life, and the hardships
suffered in wresting these floral gems from their forest casket. Any
complete exploration of these tropical wilds seems at present beyond
human means and capacities, but even a few months of the soil and
climate of Borneo can transform a forest clearing into a wilderness of
riotous vegetation, more impassable than that woodland maze of a
century's growth encircling the palace of the Sleeping Beauty in the
loveliest of old-world fairy tales. Our present quest has no connection
with the mysteries of the interior, and only concerns itself with the
prosaic task of taking in a cargo of oil, used as the ship's fuel. We
steam into a wooded bay, beneath a hill covered with the brown _atap_
bungalows of European colonists. Colossal oil-tanks, painted red,
disfigure the shore. Each tank holds 4,000 tons of oil, 30,000 tons per
month being the usual export. Kerosene taints the air, but is
considered to be innocuous, and to drive away the curse of mosquitos.
The unimaginable and ferocious heat makes every step a terror, during a
snail's progress up a wooded road. Sun-hat and white umbrella scarcely
mitigate the scorching rays on this perilous promenade, but there is
only a day at disposal, and it cannot be wasted. Towards noon a breeze
springs up, and exploration of the long line of _tokos_ beyond the
wharves is simplified by the spreading eaves of palm-leaf thatch. A row
of workmen's dwellings forms a prosaic continuation of the _campong_,
inhabited by a mixed population, chiefly imported to Balik-Papan in the
interests of the oil trade. A chance rencontre with the Scotch doctor
of the European settlement affords an opportunity of visiting the Oil
Refinery, with the varied distillations, culminating in the great tank
of benzine, a concentration of natural forces like a liquid dynamite,
capable of wrecking the whole settlement in a moment. Endless
precautions and vigilant care alone secure the safety of Balik-Papan
from the perils incidental to the vast stores of explosive material.
The raw petroleum brought from the mines of Samarinda, farther down the
coast, by a fleet of _hoppers_ (the local steamers which ply round the
indented shore), is extracted by boring a stratum of coal known as
"antichine," and always containing indications of mineral oil. Dutch
and English Companies work this valuable product; fortunes are quickly
made, and the in