INTRODUCTION. 5 



Embahoe- and the Silat Rivers , coming down from the 

 Madih-plateau , with elevations of about 1000 meter. 



Below the Silat River the Kapoeas breaks through a 

 range of hills , which forms a kind of barrier, enclosing 

 the basin of the Upper Kapoeas. Through the Upper Ka- 

 poeas-basin the main river flows very slowly, with innu- 

 merable serpentines, causing, in the wet season, regular 

 inundations on a very large scale. In fact the numerous 

 Batang Loepar Lakes are nothing but backwaters of the 

 Kapoeas which now and then , but by no means every 

 year, become entirely dry, and are then placed under 

 cultivation by the natives. The same is the case with many 

 more such lakes and swamps on both sides of the river. 



Immediately below the hilly barrier, the Kapoeas River 

 is joined from the South by the largest of all its tribu- 

 taries , the Melawi River. This latter comes down from a 

 large basin, the south-eastern corner of the Kapoeas-region, 

 bounded on the north by the Madih-plateau and on the south 

 by a very important region of high mountains , which se- 

 parate the Melawi- basin from the numerous rivers running 

 southwards to the Java-Sea. One of the highest peaks of 

 this range , and at the same time of Dutch Borneo , is 

 Mount Rajah, 2270 meter above the level of the sea. 



After being joined by the Melawi , at an elevation of 

 only 28 meter above the sea, the Kapoeas becomes a majestic 

 stream, flowing slowly through the immense plain to the 

 Indo-Chinese Sea, receiving, from the right and the left, 

 numerous larger and smaller tributaries. Below the Island 

 of Taj an , where its width has reached 1600 meter, the 

 river begins to form a large swampy delta, covering an 

 area of about 150 square geographical miles. The largest 

 and most northern branch of the delta is the Little Ka- 

 poeas, on the southern bank of which is situated, about 

 four geographical miles from the mouth , the town of Pon- 

 tianak , the capital of the Residency of Dutch West-Borneo, 

 and opposite on the right bank, the so-called Malay Kam- 

 pong, the residence of the Sultan of Pontianak. So low 



Notes from the Leyden jMuseum , Vol. XIX. 



