April i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



75i 



surrounded by escarpments of rook of great height. | 



Many small streams join the Perak Kiver and the sea 

 from this range. The Kaugsa and Kenas both flow into 

 the Perak to the eastward. In an ascent made by me to 

 the summit of Mount Bubu I was able to explore some 

 of the sources of both these rivers, which afford a home 

 to many a rhinoceros, but few other animals except mon- 

 keys (Sylobata, Hemiiopitliecvs, and Xacttcus). The rivers 

 descend 'many hundred feet in a series of cascades, giving 

 rise to some of the finest scenery in the Malay peninsula. 

 North of Mount Bubu this group of ridges falls away 

 abrubtly, leaving a narrow pass (Gapis Pass) between 

 them and the next group. This pass is about 400 feet 

 above the level of the sea, and therefore too elevated to 

 permit of any river outlet. 



Mount Poudok.— In Gapis Pass, or rather at the eastern 

 end of it, there is an isolated hill of highly crystalline 

 limestone. It is an outlier of the great Pal.-eozoic lime- 

 stone formation already referred to. It is about 400 feet 

 high, and quite precipitous. Its junction with the granite 

 or Paleozoic clays is not visible. Its bright blue and red 

 precipices crowned with dark-green jungle make it a sin- 

 gular and beautiful object, but there are many similar in 

 the State. 



Mount Ijau.— North of Gapis another group of ranges 

 succeeds, culminating in Mount Ijau (Malay for greeu) at 

 about 4.400 feet above the sea. The cluster of ridges 

 appears to me to be of nearly the same dimensions as 

 the Mount Bubu group, but not so high by 1,000 feet or 

 so. I estimate that each group is from twenty to twenty- 

 five miles long, and fourteen to sixteen broad, covering 

 an area of about 400 square miles. This, however, is only 

 a rough estimate formed from views I have been able to 

 obtain from the summits of other mountains. I have not 

 been able to examine personally the termination of the 

 Mount Ijau group on the north. From the sea one is 

 able to perceive a distinct pass like that of Gapis. It is 

 probably about the same height, and does not form the 

 outlet of any river from the eastern side. 



Kurau Group.— North of Gunong Ijau is another group, 

 which I do not kuow how to distinguish except that it 

 forms the watershed of the Kurau Kiver. Its highest 

 point is a mountain which is also called Ijau by the 

 Malays. I have not ascended the peak, but it seemed to 

 me less elevated than Mount Ijau to the south. 



Mount Inas.— What the Malays of Keddah call Mount 

 Inas is the highest point of another detached group north 

 of the Kriau and Selama Rivers. I have been within a 

 few miles of the foot of this mountain, and it seemed to 

 me to be somewhat over 4,000 feet high, and the highest 

 point of an isolated group of ridges. 



Keddah Peat.— North of Mouut Iuas, in the State of 

 Keddah, there is, close to the sea, a detached group of 

 mountains, at the foot of which the Keddah Kiver flows. 

 Keddah Peak is the highest summit.— probably over 4,001) 

 feet high. This is in what is called Lower Siam, in which 

 I have only travelled to a very trifling extent north of 

 the Krian Kiver, the boundary of Perak State. In the 

 north of Perak, near Patani, we have other groups of 

 mountains. An Italian explorer named Bozzolo, who has 

 lived many years iu Siam, assures me that he has trav- 

 elled round the Gunoug Kendrong group at the head of 

 the Perak, and that it is quite detached from auy other 



b ills - « • ., 



Perak River. — The whole of these groups are sufliciently 



connected to prevent any drainage from the central range 



flowing directly to the west coast of the peninsula. Thus 



the Perak Kiver, which has its sources in the Keddah 



and Patani Mountains flows to the southward for over 



180 miles. In its course it is joined by two important 



rivers from the eastward, namely, the Plus and Kinta. 



Kits Biser.— The Plus River has its sources in the high 



mountain groups east of Mount Tnas, and in the main 



range. It flows round the southern end of a group called 



by some the Bukit Panjang Range, and then joins the 



Kinta Ranges. — South of this junction is a group of 

 mountains called by some the Kinta Ranges. This group 

 is about twenty-five miles long. It is perfectly detached 

 from all the others, having a generally north and south 

 direction, hut sending off spurs from its west side a little 

 to the west of south. The group is entirely granitic, but 



on its lower slopes has thick deposit* of limestone be- 

 longing to the formation already referred to, above and 

 below which tin is worked. For about twenty-five miles 

 this range separates the valley of the Perak River from 

 that of the Kinta, which flows on its eastern side. The 

 highest peaks rise to about 3,750 feet above the sea, and 

 give rise to small streams which all flow into the Perak. 

 There is a remarkable uniformity in three or four of the 

 highest summits, which are about the centre of the chain, 

 Mount Merah (red), Prunguin, &c. They are all within a 

 few feet of the same height. From those mountains the 

 range falls away gradually to the south, and sends off two 

 considerable spurs to the south-west. Where it ceases 

 the Kinta River joins the Perak. 



Kinta Valley. — The valley of the Kinta River is about 

 as wide as that of the Perak. The river flows, like the 

 Perak, on the eastern side of the valley. The eastern 

 tributaries are many and important. On the sides lime- 

 stone granite and schistose slates crop out. To the east- 

 ward there are many detached hills of limestone fronting 

 the main central chain. They form very characteristic 

 features in the landscape, from their precipitous outline, 

 and the brilliantly coloured faces of blue, green, and bright 

 red rock. They are also distinguished by a different 

 vegetation. 



Perak Valley.— The valley of the Perak Kiver is bounded 

 by the groups of mountains already described on the west ; 

 on the east by the Kinta Range, and north of the Plus 

 by the Bukit Panjang Range. The river flows on the 

 eastern side of the valley ; this is owing to the mauy 

 spurs and outliers on the eastern sides of Mounts Bubu 

 and the Ijau Ranges. It seems as if there had been 

 much less denudation on the eastern than on the western 

 sides of the range. This may be owing to the prevailing 

 rains falling more abundantly on the western than on 

 the eastern sides of the mountains. 



As a consequence of this the tin workings appear to 

 be, with little exception, on the western side of the ranges, 

 where the waste and wash has probably been greater. 



Battt Kurau. — Between Mount Bubu Range and Mount 

 Ijau Range and the sea there are no hills except small 

 outliers, mostly of Palaeozoic clay, which have evidently 

 belonged to the ranges. By north of the Larut River 

 there is an isolated limestone mountain near the Kurau 

 River. This is called Batu (stone or rock in Malay) 

 Kurau. It is very similar to Mount Poudok in the Gapis 

 Pass. It is quite unconnected with the maiu range, and 

 rises out of the plain between the spurs which form the 

 valley of the Kurau River. There is also a small detached 

 range dividing the valley of the Krian River from that 

 of the Kurau. 



Main Range.— Of the main range I know but very little 

 from personal observation, having only visited it at Go- 

 ping, and at the limestone hills, where the tin is worked 

 on the Diepang River. But I have travelled along the 

 most of the Kinta Valley skirting the base of the range 

 either on foot or iu boats. I have also traced the valley 

 of the Kampar River. The geology is like the rest of 

 the country, mainly granite, slates, and limestone, with 

 traces of basaltic rocks. The general structure of the 

 range can best be judged from some of the mountains 

 to the westward. It forms a most imposing boundary to 

 the whole of the western horizon. In the north, about 

 the sources of the Plus River, there is a mountain of 

 rounded outline, probably over 6,000 feet high. The range 

 there declines a little, with a somewhat serrated outline, 

 but generally over 3,000 feet. At a point corresponding 

 with the latitude of about the centre of the Kinta Range, 

 or opposite the Gapis Pass, the chain increases in elev- 

 ation to perhaps over 5,000 feet, and in the distance is 

 seen a peak which must be over 8,000 feet high. I 

 know no name for this hill, but it is the most distant 

 mountain usually seen. South and west of this the chain 

 rises into a grand cluster of peaks, the highest of which 

 is over 7,000 feet. This is Guuong Robinson. It looks 

 higher than the Sugar-Loaf Hill as seen from Gunong 

 Bubu, but then it is much nearer. From Gunong Robin- 

 son the range declines to the southward, but is still a 

 bold series of picturesque peaks, many of which must be 

 over 6,000 feet. It has been asserted by more than one 

 observer that to the south of the point where the range 

 is lost sight of from Arung Pura. there is a high mount- 



