Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/343

Rh MALAY PENINSULA 321 out, this region will fall into its natural position as one of the great islands of Malaysia. In a wider sense the peninsular formation begins properly at the head of the Gulf of Siam, about the parallel of Bangkok. But this northern section between 10 and 13 30 N. being com prised within the limits of Siam proper and British Burmah, is not usually included in Malacca, whose political frontier towards the north-west is thus traced by the lower course of the river Pakshan, which there separates it from Tenasserim, the southernmost division of British Burmah. But east of that river there is no natural or political frontier towards Lower Siam, which embraces all the land as far south as the river Muda on the west coast in 5 33 N., and on the east side as far as the state of Pahang in 4 N. The seaboard, which is generally flat and overgrown with mangroves for 5 or G miles inland, is fringed with numerous islands and insular groups, of which the chief are Salanga (Junk Ceylon), Langkawi, and Pulo Penang on the west side ; Singapore, Batang, and Bintang at the southern extremity ; Tantalem and Bardia on the east coast. All these islands, which may have a total area of some 5000 square miles, seem to have originally formed part of the mainland, of which they may be regarded as scattered geological fragments. Although known to Europeans since the beginning of the IGth century, and nowhere more than 100 miles from the sea, the interior still remains one of the least known linds in Asia. D Souza s large map, prepared in 1879 for the British Government, is still in many places almost a complete blank ; the mountain ranges are traced only for short distance*, chiefly on the west side below Kedah ; the river courses and political boundaries are often merely conjectured, while the elevation of somo of the highest peaks is absolutely unknown. Accurate surveys, however, have since then been made, especially by II. S. Deane in the Perak and Selangor states, by D. D. Daly in most of the British native states, 1 by Dru in the extreme north, and by others in the extreme south about the Endau river basin and at several other points, from which a rough idea may be formed of the general orographic and geological features and hydrographic systems. The surface seems to be everywhere essentially mountainous, and considerably more elevated than had till recently been supposed. The land is traversed in its entire length by a somewhat irregular and ill-defined backbone, forming a southern continuation of the Arakan and Tenasserim ranges, but here falling to a mean elevation of perhaps 3000 feet, and constituting a distinct water-parting between the streams flowing east and west to the surrounding seas. The surface is further varied by numerous spurs and detached ridges running mainly north and south, besides isolated masses often vying in elevation with the central ranges. Little space is thus left for upland plateaus, broad valleys, or lowland alluvial plains of any extent, except about Tringganu atid Pahang on the east, and Selangor on the west side. The highest ascertained altitudes are the Titi Bangsn range (7000 feet), between Kedah and Perak; the Gunong Inas (5000) ascended in 1881 by Deane; the Gunong Bubu (5650), and Gunong Ulu Tumulang (6435), near the right and left banks of the Perak river; the 18G1 by Fraser and Forlong across the neck of the isthmus in 10 30 between the estuaries of the rivers Pekshan and Champon. This scheme, which might be carried out for about 5,000,000, would shorten the sea route from India to China by four days, besides avoid ing the dangerous navigation of the Straits. 1 A detailed account of Mr Daly s surveys, which extended over the years 1875-82, appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for July 1882. It is accompanied by a large map which fills up several gaps left in that of D Souza. Yet the surveyor remarks that &quot;there is a vast extent more than half of the Malayan Peninsula still unexplored,&quot; p. 409. Slim range (6000 to 7000) in south-east Perak ; the Gunong Rajah (6500), in the main range ; a peak (7000) in the Endau river basin, nearly double the height of Gunong Ledang, or Mount Ophir (3849), hitherto sup posed to be the highest point in the extreme south. But an unexplored ridge towards the west frontier of Kelantan, with a probable elevation of 8500 or 9000 feet, is taken by Miklucho Maclay as the culminating land of the whole peninsula. These mountains are scarcely any where traversed by recognized beaten tracks, the natural passes between the eastern and western watersheds being still mostly overgrown by dense jungle. Deane, however, came upon a forest path across the main water-parting from Kedah to Patani, and a route is said to lead from the Bernam river basin across the main axis to Pahang on the east side. Owing to the formation of the land, the rivers, although numerous, are necessarily of short length, and, as their mouths are generally obstructed by bars and coral reefs, they are on the whole more useful for irrigation than as water highways. Nevertheless some are navigable by light craft for considerable distances, and in 1881 Deane steamed up the Bernam between Perak and Selangor to Kampong Chankat Bertiham, 76 miles from the coast. He proceeded by boat thence for 9 miles to Simpang, where the stream divides and shallows. For about 80 miles it is 10 to 17 feet deep, while the Perak, with its chief tributaries, the Plus, Kinta, and Batang Padang, presents a total navigable waterway of perhaps 200 miles. The Perak on the west and the Pahang on the east slope are by far the largest river basins in the peninsula, each draining an area of 5000 to 6000 square miles. The other chief streams are the Selangor and Klang on the south- west coast, the Johor facing Singapore, and on the east side the Endau, Kelantan, and Patani. As far as has been ascertained, the main geological formations would appear to be Lower Devonian sandstones and unfossilized clay slates, with a basis of grey stanni ferous granite everywhere cropping out. Although no trace has been found of recent volcanic action, there are several isolated and unstratified limestone masses from 500 to 2000 feet high, of a highly crystallized character, with no fossils of any kind. Earthquakes also are frequent, while numerous hot springs attest the presence of still active igneous forces beneath the surface. In the south porphyry occurs, associated with granite and clay ironstone ; and laterite, resembling that of the Malabar coast, abounds, especially along the west slope. The rich stanniferous granites forming the backbone of the peninsula render this region the most extensive storehouse of tin in the world. Vast deposits of tin ores, sometimes associated with gold and silver, 2 occur almost everywhere, and are continued in the neighbouring islands as far south as Banca on the Sumatra coast. 3 Gold, whence the land was known to the ancients as the Aurea Chersonesus, is also found in considerable quantities, either disseminated in quartz or in alluvial deposits, especially about Mount Ophir, in Pahang, Gomichi, Tringganu, and Kemaman. The total yield has amounted in some years to 25,000 and 30,000 ounces. Iron ores abound especially in the south, and coal has recently been found in the isthmus of Kra conveniently situated for the future ship canal across the peninsula. The climate, everywhere moist and hot, becomes 2 Although the Perak river is named from the Malay word perak, &quot; silver,&quot; the presence of this metal has been doubted. M. Alfred Marche, however, who recently visited the west coast, found it in Laroot, associated with the rich tin ores of that district (Complex Rcndus of the French Geol. Soc. for April 14, 1882, p. 165). 3 &quot; The alluvial tin deposits permeate the whole length of the Malayan Peninsula on the westera side of the dividing range (MJ1 - XV. - 4,