The Correspondence of Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt - DWC - KNAW

Van Heiningen / 34
jars of ginger to his relatives and friends in the Netherlands and Germany. These
presents were very wanted. The Reinwardt sisters, who were fond of this delicacy,
even asked their brother to repeat this gesture.
Mining and economy
The activities relative to mineral sources and mining were most important for
the government, for example those, relative to the availability and quality of coal,
sulphur and gold and the production of saltpetre from bat manure. Reinwardt
maintained a lively correspondence with several residents, with administrative
officers and higher government officials, such as the Commissioners General, the
Governor General and the National Audit Office.The major question was if there
could be made any profit from these mining ventures, yes or no. Anyhow, the
quality of the coal from Madura turned out to be rather poor and it appeared
to be impossible to recover large quantities of it. Furthermore it was decided
that it would be impossible to sell refined sulphur, produced on the island of
Java, at a profitable price, because the necessary refining processes would be too
expensive. Reinwardt was able to advise about how to raise the annual yield of
sulphur and saltpetre, by examining the common technological procedures and by
advising about their possible improvement. [see: NA 2-21.204(7): P. von Lawick
von Pabst (Surabaya) to the Governor General: 9 April 1817, NA 2-21.204(7): ??
Parvé (Semarang) to the Governor General: 19 November 1817, NA 2-21.204(7):
Resident of the Preanger regencies (Jagal) to the Governor General: 27 November
1817 and NA 2-21.204(7): Lieutenant General Anthing (Batavia) to the Governor
General: 3 October 1818]
Volcanism and earthquakes
About half a year after Reinwardt’s arrival in Batavia the rumours and reports
about volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides began to pour in. Directly
or indirectly Reinwardt was informed about these amazing events, which were
unknown in the Netherlands. He had to analyse these reports and to advise the
government about how to act. On 20 December 1815, the first of these reports,
preserved in the ‘Nationaal Archief’ (The Hague), was sent on 20 December
1816 to Parvé (at the time interim resident of Semarang) by C. Meiners, surgeon
major in that town, who had been charged with the surveillance of a part of the
military health service. In his report Meiners informed the resident about the
chemical qualities of mountain water, containing among others sulphuric acid and