1916.] H. C. Robinson & C. B. Kloss: Kedah Peak. 221 



steeply towards the sea, and is about 100 yards beyond the 

 point where the path leading to the actual summit of the Peak 

 branches off to the left. 



The building site which lies N.W. beyond the Padang and 

 four or five minutes distant, consists of a long, slightly undu- 

 lating ridge running east and west, gently rounded from side 

 to side, in some places flat, and varying in width from one to 

 two hundred yards. It is covered with grasses, etc., pitcher- 

 plants and orchids and is dotted throughout with bushes, 

 (Boeckia, Leptospermuui, Vaccinitun, Rhododendron and heaths), 

 of a general height of 3-10 ft. but on several of the highest 

 points of the ridge where the soil is deeper some of these be- 

 come small trees growing in clumps with a height of 15—20 ft. 

 and afford a welcome broken shade on a fine day. Golden - 

 flowered Xyris and a pretty free-blossoming pink Argostenima 

 give colour to the herbage, while everywhere the growth is so 

 open that charming views can be obtained in many directions 

 and if a certain amount of clearing were done the whole sur- 

 rounding sea and land could be seen except in the section 

 SE-SW. 



Roughly, that portion of the horizon is obscured by the 

 secondary summit of the mountain, seen from the site, a steep- 

 sided ridge running parallel to the southward, thickly wooded 

 and rising 500 ft. higher. Seaward this drops sharply for 100 

 ft. and then descends morg gently to become a narrow arrete 

 which rises again to a lower peak in the S.W. and screens the 

 island of Penang from view. Landward this summit drops 

 more gently, the path to the Peak tunning near its profile, 

 while across its base the mland plains and distant hills can be 

 seen. 



The prospect eastwards is closed by the continuation of 

 the ridge from which these views are recorded but to the north- 

 ward can be seen the wide-spreading plain under rice cultiva- 

 tion stretching right away to the hills of Perlis and bordered 

 by the sea. Through this can be traced the railway to Alor 

 Star and the town itself can be picked up with beyond it, the 

 most conspicuous of all features, the precipitous mass of 

 Gunong Keriang. The islands of Terutau and Langkawi lie 

 clear on the horizon and running south in a long curve is the 

 sea-shore with the mouth of the Kedah River jutting out in the 

 centre, Pulau Paya is in the middle distance and the wooded 

 islets of the Bunting group with their glistening yellow beaches 

 are strung out in a line nearer in ; while only about four miles 

 away lie the village and fruit-groves of Yen, the mouth of its 

 stream being marked by a long grove of cocopalms. Sails, and 

 even canoes at sea, can be seen quite clearly. 



The open portion of the ridge, on which the soil is very 

 shallow and peaty and where numerous outcrops of sand-stone 

 and quartzite occur, is some 7-800 yards long and is only fit 

 for building purposes : inland, however, where the forest grows, 

 the soil is much deeper and richer and the surface being rounded 



