any and Geology. 129 
heavy rains, day and night, without suffering in health. I ate no rea- 
son, therefore, to consider it as unhealthy as it is reported to b 
e population appears small and inadequate for the dias ‘of pub- 
lic works ; but I have been assured laborers can.be procured from some 
parts of the interior. am, however, of opinion that, if any important 
works are undertaken, an additional and more effective set of hands 
would be indispensable. 
5. Geology and Mineralogy of the Malay Peninsula, {tining Journal, 
April 22, 1848.)—The little that is known of the physical geo 
| ys Pm east of the greatest interest. The knowledge of this im- 
e tract, extending over 83,000 geographical square miles—the 
innate of which is almost untrodden ground, at least to European foot— 
| must depend on future exploration ; but any information, even of its 
coast line and adjoining islands, is of importance, and ten ds to incite to 
further observation. Its western coast is remarkable for the great num- 
ber of islets which skirt it ; a broad and almost uninterrupted belt om 3 
along a all the western side of the isthmus. Some of these are rem 
ably bold and ir 
such as the Johore Archipelago, and the Re- 
dang Islands. Th Riise southern half embraces the Island of Sin- 
gapore ; and an archipelago of 2 are apes ose ae south- 
east by south, marks that the peni ninsul e has not yet wholly sunk 
by numerous high hill ranges, which have the same general south- 
erly direction. Along the sea borders, considerable tracts of flat allu- 
vial land occur, the best known of which is the large plain of Tenesarim. 
From Junk-Ceylon to the Langkawi group, the coasts of the main land 
and Islands exposed to the full ‘force of the Bengal Sea, are broken, and 
frequently rocky and precipitous. ‘The high and perpendicular limestone 
rocks, with their deep excavations, pillared with colossal nari “s 
| with their summits crowned with dense forests, present the most m 
cent scenery. The Tela nd of Penang is a bold mountain sare risi 
in some of its northerly summits to the height of nearly 3000 ft., and 
| ; Matthew) rises to the height of 3000 ft. The isthmus itself is occupied 
a site to it, on the main land. Geologically, the peninsula may be con- 
sidered, when divested of its alluvial fringes, as one continuous belt of 
mountains and hills, separated from the Hindu-Chinese region in lat. 
. 13° 30’ north. We find that the broad tract, stretching eastward towards 
f Siam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, with which the peninsular zone is amal 
= mated, is not a — elevated continental mass in which the peninsula 
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