26 STEVENSON— INTERRELATIONS OF THE FOSSIL FUELS. 



Sumatran forests, where hard woods grow, fallen trees are numerous, 

 which though decades old are still in condition good enough for 

 export. Molengraaff gives an illustration more remarkable, because 

 the conditions are not constant. The Lake district of the Upper 

 Kappewas River is merely the overflow area during flood time. The 

 lakes contract during the dry season, leaving only shallow channel- 

 ways in which fish accumulate. The Malays gather in camps to 

 harvest the fish and the camp fires frequently spread, causing great 

 destruction in the forest. In one portion of this district, a great 

 " submerged " forest remains, composed of medium-sized charred 

 stumps, in varying stages of decay and all broken off at approxi- 

 mately the same height. A sprinkling of younger trees was seen, but 

 owing to the unfavorable conditions — flooding and fires — the forest 

 cannot recover. This locality was described by Ida Pfeiffer in 1846, 

 when the features differed little from those observed by Molen- 

 graaff, almost half a century later. Evidently, decay of rooted 

 stumps may be as slow under the equator as in temperate regions. 



Wichmann^ gathered available information respecting peat de- 

 posits in the Indian archipelago, summarizing observations by Jung- 

 huhn, Koorders, Molengraaff, Machielson, Schwaner, Teyssmann, 

 Van Nouhys and himself. The largest fen in Java is in Samarang; 

 about 2,500 hectares have been brought under cultivation but not 

 less than 1,500 still remain as swamp. Borings at one locality show 

 that the peat is from 30 to 31 meters thick and " peat islands " have 

 risen in it at various times. The Javan peat is an inferior fuel as 

 it contains much ash ; that from Kapogan has 27 per cent. 



Very many swamps within the east coast residency of Sumatra 

 have been drained and placed under cultivation ; but much still re- 

 mains untouched. A great fenland of 80,000 hectares, between the 

 Siak and Kampar rivers, has been known long time and it has been 

 described by Koorders, botanist to the Ijzerman expedition of 1891. 

 As Wichmann presents the matter, peat is evidently a commonplace 

 in Sumatra. He refers to Molengraaff's observations in central 

 Borneo. W. J. M. Machielson found fens along several rivers in 

 another portion and C. A. L. M. Schwaner reported them from 



8 C. E. A. Wichmann, " The Fens of the Indian Archipelago," A'. Akad. 

 Wetetisch., Amsterdam, Vol. XII., 1909, pp. 70-74. 



