}VM 1, 1885] 



TRE f ftO£lCAf, '"KeR'tetTLTUMSf. 



945 



THE JOHOR FORESTS: SOME CURSORY 

 NOTES ON THEM, 



BY JAMES MELDKUM, F.R.O.S., 



Commissioner to the International Forestry Exhibition at 

 Edinburgh from H.H.the Maharajah of Johor, K.C.8.I.,#C. 

 The Johor Forests are situated on the Malayan Pen- 

 insula, the extreme south of the Asiatic Continent. The 

 territory of Johor, Muar, anil their dependencies consist 

 of about 10,000 square miles, and are bounded on the 

 north by the native State of Pahang and the British 

 Settlement of Malacca, on the south by the strait Salat 

 Tainbrau, on the west by the Straits of Malacca, and 

 on the east by the China Sea. The thriving town of 

 Johor Bharu is distant from Singapore fifteen miles 

 across the strait and island ; but going round by water 

 it is thirty miles. Population, about 100,000 Chinese, and 

 50,000 Malays ; very few Europeans. The aborigines of 

 the forests on the Malayan Peninsula are few in number, 

 and seldom seen. They lead a solitary and precarious 

 life in the depths of the jungle, subsisting on fruits, 

 roots, and the flesh of the wild pig, deer, plandok, and 

 what birds they are able to kill. Sometimes they collect 

 gutta and exchange it with the Malays for a little rice 

 and tobacco. Their mode of dealing used to be to deposit . 

 at a certain place the products they had collected, leave 

 them, and return hoping to find in their stead a quantity 

 of rice, tobacco, or salt. They live sometimes in trees, 

 sometimes in temporary huts on the ground, seldom re- 

 maining long in one place. They are called Orang Utans, 

 or Orally Sletar. Their clothing generally consists of a 

 piece of bark wrapped round the loins. They arc very 

 low in the scale of humanity. Another tribe are the 

 Oranij Laut, or sea-people ; they are born, live, and die in 

 their boats, which are of small dimensions. Skin disease 

 is very common amongst them, owing to their eating so 

 mucH fish. Dogs are always of their party ; they are 

 used for hunting the deer in the forests. Besides a 

 billyony (native axe), a parang or chopper, and a knife, 

 they frequently possess a snmpitan and poisoned arrows. 

 Fire-arms they do not possess. 



The climate of Johor is, for a tropical one, exceedingly 

 healthy. The thermometer averages about 78° in the 

 ehade. This Iowness of temperature is, no doubt, owing 

 to the vast forests of the interior, which attract the 

 rain clouds and retain the moisture, so that when the 

 wind blows over them the breezes are comparatively cool. 

 This is very observable to anyone who has travelled in 

 the arid parts of India and China and other countries 

 where the wind, when it blows over extensive barren 

 tracts, comes heated as if from some fiery furnace, de- 

 stroying and preventing vegetation, rendering what were 

 once fertile lands wholly uninhabitable. The indis- 

 criminate destruction of forest trees will soon ruin any 

 tropical or sub-tropical country, and we may rejoice that, 

 hi British India at least, the Government has taken 

 much interest in forest administration and established 

 conservators, having a staff of excellent and efficient 

 officers in each of the presidencies in India. I might 

 add, thanks are due to Colonel Michael, Dr. Cleghorn, 

 and Dr. Brandis for their exertions iu helping to bring 

 about the establishment of a systematic forest depart- 

 ment in India. The effect of the preservation of the 

 forests that still remain, and the re-foresting that has 

 been accomplished, will iu time tell 011 the climate, and 

 preveut the recurrence of the droughts that bring on 

 those dreadful famines that have b pe iodical occur- 

 rence ever since we knew India. Mis Highness the 

 Maharajah of Johor has taken some steps towards the 

 protection of his forests, and it is a condition stated iu 

 all contracts for land for any purposes, that a certain 

 portion of forest is to be reserved. The soil on which 

 these forests grow varies not a little according to locality ; 

 that near Johor Bharu is of a red colour, owing to the 

 presence of iron ; it is of the same nature as that of the 

 island of Singapore. Towards the north it improves to a 

 deep chocolato and brownish-black colour. I.atcrito near 

 the town, granite towards the cast and north-west. 

 Kaolin, white clay, decomposed granite, 18 found ;>t 

 ■al places ; excellent dark-colonred clays are near at 

 hand. One kind when found, is soft and plastic, and 

 a a»ily moulded into shape, Alter exposure to the air it 



119 



becomes hard, like marble ; it is greyish, having dark 

 ami red streaks through it. 



Planters from Ceylon have recently settled in Johor. 

 They are cultivating tea, which is turning out to be of 

 an exceptionally good quality, owing, doubtless, to tho 

 adaptability of the soil for its growth. Coffee of tho 

 Liberian sort appears to flourish. Cocoa is doing well, 

 and likely to be a success. Cinchona and cardamoms arc 

 all being tried, whilst an Arab gentleman is fortunate 

 enough to have pitched upon soil suitable for sugar cane. 

 Sago (Sagui farinifera) in Johor exists principally on tiic 

 low lauds, on some of the fresh water rivers. Its cult- 

 ivation is not c»stly; only it does not yield a return 

 under six or seven years, but after that its yield is con- 

 stant. It springs up like the banana, after the rip, 

 has been cut down. Its preparation is simple. The in 

 is cut down, aud split in two halves longitudinal]-! ; 

 pith scooped out and washed in water, when the farina 

 falls to the bottom. When sufficiently settled, the 1 

 is run off; the residue is then dried, and appears as 

 Tapioca is cultivated. 



The fruits of the forest are numerous. Chief among 

 them is the durian, and to those who can overcome 

 the peculiar odour, it is ever welcome and eagerly longed 

 for. In taste it resembles the finest custard. "The Malays 

 consider it their finest fruit, aud ascribe various virtues 

 to it ; they are passionately fond of it. The | 

 termination to a durian feast is to finish off with 

 mangosteens— a delightful fruit of a sub-acid natui 

 a pleasant flavour and smell. The durian tin- i a 1 

 one; it bears at the age of seven or eight years 

 only to be found on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, 

 other islands of the Eastern Archipelago. Early navigators 

 called the Straits of Malacca the Straits of Durian. 



In scarce seasons, a durian fetches half a dollar, about 

 2s.— a long price for natives to give. "When plentiful, 

 they range from 10 to 20 cents— say, 5(1. to 10rf.es I 



Many of the fruits of the forest trees are edible, ami 

 are made use of by the aborigines. Some are very 

 palatable. 



The mangrove flourishes wherever salt or brackish wati 

 flows; there are various kinds, most plentiful near the 

 mouths of rivers and as far up as the influence of tho 

 tide goes. It is useful for fuel, and its hjirk for tanning 

 and dyeing. Its fruit is not edible, to the great regret 

 of the native, who says if he could only eat the fruit 

 of the mangrove, and as he can always catch fish, his lot 

 in life would leave nothing to be desired. 



Coconut (Cocos nncifera) and other palms grow in 

 various places on the coast and up the rivers. There isa 

 beetle very inimical to the coconut palm, and, unless 

 found and killed, totally destroys it. 



Bamboos thrive wherever planted, but they do not exist 

 in large clumps, as iu India. Burma, aud China. 



The Malacca cane is found everywhere iu the forest ; 

 like other ratans, it climbs trees, descends again, runs 

 along the ground, and perhaps ascends another. There 

 are a number of different kinds of ratans or canes, somn 

 no thicker than a quill, others thicker than a good-sized 

 walking-stick. The Malays make use of the ratan fur a 

 number of purposes; with it they fasten the leaves com- 

 posing the sides and roofs of their houses, tie on their 

 axes to their helves, and their oars to their boats, v.hi : >; 

 for hauling the logs out of the forest, and serving as 

 cables for their rafts, nothing comes handier than 

 ratan. Indeed, it is a fail-rae-never to the m 



Gum-dammar, or da-mar as the Americans call it. exudes 

 from a large tree called kruen. it is got in th<- shape of 

 oil, by notching the tree and kindling a fire at the bottom 

 of it. This oil is used for painting the bottoms of boats ; 

 with the addition of lime, it is used as a putty for 

 caulking the seams and decks of boats. The gum-dammar 

 is made into torches, and also is used with coconut 

 oil for caulking the seams of vessels. Much is exported 

 to China and America, where it is manufactured into » 

 I low kind of vari.ish. It is cheap, and may be 

 from a penny per pound upwards. There are some very 

 clear mid valuable gums, but this trad,- is not pr< 

 I as it might be. 



Various bark? and roots are found, some of them the 

 natives boil, and give the decoction to those Buffering 

 , front lever, dysentery, &«. 



