Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/611

 S T R S T R 587 from opium and spirit taxation (712,600 dollars ill 1868 and 2,152,700 iu 1884). The expenditure in the same period increased from 1,197,177 to 3,652,771 dollars. In 1868 12,400 dollars were devoted to education (95,600 in 1884). Public works were credited with 146,800 dollars in 1868 but with 1,170,000 iu 1884. The ports of the Straits Settlements are all free. In 1867 the total burden was 1,237,700 tons, in 1873 2,507,000 tons, and in 1883 4,290,600. The value of the united imports and exports was in 1867 about 14,040,000, and in 1883 it was estimated by Sir Frederick AVeld at 38,624,200. The imports usually somewhat exceed the exports. MALACCA. The territory of Malacca lies betsveeu the river Linggi and the Kesang, which separate it respectively from Sungei TJjong to the north-west and the Moar district of Johor to the east. To the north it marches with Negri Sembilan. Forest conservancy is beginning to be carefully attended to, and pepper growing has recently been started with success at Arra Kudah by Achinese settlers. Tapioca and tin are among the exports, the latter, brought from the Selangor mines, being smelted in Malacca. The average birth-rate in 1881-83 was 2046 and the death-rate 2642. The city of Malacca has already been described, vol. xv. p. 312. PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND (or Peuaug) and SINGAPORE arc treated in separate articles. PROVINCE WELLESLKY, which lies opposite Penang, was at one time part of the Kedah territory, from which it is now separated by the Kwala Muda river. Southwards it extends (since 1874) a little to the south of the Krian river and marches with Perak. The boundary was rectified by treaty with Siam in 1867. Butter- worth is the seat of the Government headquarters. The country consists for the most part of fertile plain, and the remainder, about one-eleventh of the whole, is low wooded hills (highest 1843 feet). Some of the low land is rich dark alluvial soil, and much of it is sandy ; in the hills a ferruginous sandy loam of rather poor quality prevails. Sugar-growing has long been a staple industry, and tea plantations began to be formed in 1869-70. THE BINDINGS belonged originally to the state of Perak. The British territory extends some 26 miles from north to south. Though it has a magnificent natural harbour, "it has not hitherto," says Sir Frederick Weld, "been a progressive district. But I think its time is at hand. It produces tin, timber, and ebony, and turtles frequent the neighbouring islands." Binding Island lies off the mouth of the river of the same name. PERAK is an extensive tract of country, comprising the great part of the basin of the Perak river (which runs north and south, almost parallel with the coast of the peninsula, for upwards of 130 miles, excluding the windings, before it turns abruptly west to the Strait) and all the basin of the Bernam river. The boundary towards Patani cuts the Perak river at the rapids of Jeram Panjang. The population of the states is about 110,000, among the more noteworthy tribes being the Sakeis. Perak was brought into closer relation to Britain by the treaty signed at Pankor (Pangkore) in the Bindings, 20th January 1874, which authorized the appointment of a British resident and assistant resident. The first resident, J. W. Birch, was murdered in November 1875; but British troops from India and China, under General (Sir Francis) Colborne, soon suppressed the insurrectionary movement. One column crossed from Larut to Kwala Kungsa and defeated the rebels at Kotah Lamah, Enggar, and Prek, and another advanced from Banda Baru (where Mr Birch was buried) to Blanja, the residence of the ex-sultan Ismail, and thence to Kinta on the Kinta river, the capital of Perak. As it was discovered that Abdullah, the ruling sultan, had been accessory to the murder of Mr Birch, he was deposed in 1877 and banished to Mahe (Sey- chelles). The residency of Lower Perak was removed from Banda Baru to Durian Sabatang, the place where the Bidor and Batang Padang join the main stream of the Kungsa or Perak, and it has again been removed toTeluk Ansou (Teluk Mali Intan), lower down, the centre of the inland trade. The residency of Upper Perak is at Kwala Kungsa. Perak has made wonderful advance since the war. Its revenue was 312,875 dollars in 1877, and in 1884, at a moderate estimate, 1,435,697. In 1877 there was only one line of good road in the country, from Larut through the pass of Bukit Berapit to Kwala Kungsa ; now large tracts have been opened up with roads and bridle-paths. "Rivers have been cleared of ob- structions, telegraph lines laid down, court-houses, hospitals, police-stations, &c., built, and a line of railway (8 miles) con- structed from Port Weld, the port of Larut, at Teluk Kartang, where vessels drawing 13 to 15 feet can enter to Taipeng (Thai- peng)." The revenue is mainly derived from a duty on tin, which is largely mined in Larut, &c. The mines of the Capitan China in 1883 produced to the value of 105,000. Coffee and tea plant- ing seem to promise well. SELANGOR lies to the south of Perak, and consists mainly of the basins of the Selangor, the Klang, and the Langat, of which the last two meet in a common delta to the south of 3 N. lat. Previous to 1880 the seat of the British resident and staff was at Klang, al the head of 13-feet navigation on the Klang river ; at that date it was transferred to Kwala Lumpur, at the junction of the Gombah with the Klang, the highest point reached by the cargo boats which bring up provisions for the tin-miners and return with tin, gutta- percha, and other produce. There are tin mining settlements at Kauching, Ulu Selangor, Ulu Bernam, Ulu Gombah, Ulu Klang, Ulu Langat, Sungie Pateh Recko, Kajang, Ampagnau, &c. The mine at Ampaguan was bought for 170,000 dollars by Singapore merchants. The population of Selangor (50,000, 29,000 of them Chinese) is rapidly increasing by immigration from China, India, and Sumatra. Since the close of the civil war (1867-74) and the acceptance of the British resident the country has rapidly devel- oped. At the mouth of the Selangor lies the town of that name, with ruins of an old Dutch fort and the stone on which the sultans of Selaugor receive investiture. At Klang, up the Klang river, lies the principal port of the country, now connected by railway with Kwala Lumpor (22 miles distant), the capital, which has grown into a considerable town, with a hospital, Government house, residency, &c. The sultan resides at Jugra, on a deltaic branch of the Langat. The revenue of Selangor was estimated at 596,877 dollars in 1884 ; but the war debt was still 259,000 dollars in 1883. SUNGEI UJONG (500 square miles, including Lukut and Sungei Itiah ; population 14,000, the greater part being Chinese) also shows steady progress. Its revenue rose from 67,000 dollars in 1874-75 to 121,176 in 1884. European coffee and cocoa plantations and Chinese tapioca, pepper, and gambier plantations are at work. The interference of the British Government is frequently sought in the territory of the Negri Sembilan (the so-called " Nine States," which are now really seven iu number), Sri Menanti, Numbaw, Johole, Jellye, Muar, Jempolt, Segamet. See Journal of the Straits Asiatic Society, Singapore ; Dowden, The Malay Peninsula, 1882; Vaclier, Twelve Tears in JJalaya; M'Xair, Perak and the Malays, 1878; W. 15. D' Almeida, "Geography of Pevak and Salangore," in /. Roy. Geog. Soc., 1876 ; Sir Frederick Weld, " Straits Settlements," in Proceedings of Royal Colonial Institute, 1883-84; The Straits directory, 1886; and the works mentioned in the article MALAY PKNINSULA. STRALSUND, a seaport and small manufacturing town in Western Pomerania, Prussia, is situated on the Strelasund, an arm of the Baltic Sea, 2 miles wide, which separates the island of Riigen from the mainland, 115 miles to the north of Berlin and 85 miles to the north- west of Stettin. The position of the town on a small triangular islet, only connected with the mainland by moles and bridges at the angles, has always rendered its fortification comparatively easy, and down to 1873 it was a fortress of the first rank. The quaint architecture of the houses, many of which present their curious and handsome gables to the street, gives Stralsund an interest- ing and old-fashioned appearance. The three vast Gothic churches of St Nicholas, St Mary, and St James, erected in the 14th and 15th centuries, and the town-house, dating in its oldest part from 1316, are among the more striking buildings. The public library, founded in 1709, contains 60,000 volumes. The manufactures of Stralsund are more miscellaneous than extensive ; they include machinery, beer, oil, paper, playing-cards, and sugar. The trade is chiefly confined to the shipping of grain, malt, and timber, with some cattle and wool. In 1884 542 sea-going ships and 1964 river-craft entered the har- bour, which is protected by the fortified island of Da'n- holm, and 513 ships and 1964 river-craft cleared. In 1882 the port owned a fleet of 247 sea-going ships, with a burden of 41,176 tons, besides numerous smaller craft below 60 tons. The population in 1880 was 29,481, in 1885 28,981. More than a fourth of the inhabitants re- side in the Knieper, Tribseer, Franken, and Harbour sub- urbs on the mainland. About 1000 are Koman Catholics and 140 Jews. Stralsund was founded in 1209 by Jaromar I., prince of Piiigen, and, though several times destroyed, steadily prospered. It ^yas one of the five Weudish towns whose alliance extorted from King Eric of Norway a favourable commercial treaty in 1284-85 ; and in the 14th century it was second only to Liibeck in the Hanseatic League. Although under the sway of the dukes of Pomerania, the city was able to maintain a marked degree of independence, which is still apparent in its municipal privileges; it is also the only town in Prussia, with the exception of Breslau, which has an inde- pendent municipal ecclesiastical consistory. Its early Protestant sympathies placed it on the side of Sweden during the Thirty Years' War ; and in 1628 it successfully resisted a siege of _eleveu weeks by Wallenstein, who had sworn to take it "though it were chained to heaven." He was forced to retire with the loss of