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. Geach 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 grandiloquent Portuguese; and concluded by turning to Mr.
Geach, 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
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