IIG 



AUSTEALASIA. 



coast. Belonging geologically to the Malay peninsula, and like it consisting 

 mainly of granite and sandstones, they rise in undulating cliffs, above which 

 appear a few higher summits, or "mountains," as the natives call them. One of 

 the eminences in Bintang attains a height of 1,700 feet, which is still 2,000 feet 

 lower than the peak of Lingga (3,700 feet), culminating point in the island of like 

 name, in the southern group. Notwithstanding their healthy climate, due to the 

 absence of marshy tracts, a large number of the islands are still uninhabited, and 



Fig. 44.^ — Riouw Aechipelago. 

 Scale 1 : 1,540,000. 



i03°4o- 



Lasr or Lreenwic^i 



l04°40- 



OtoSO 

 Feet. 



Depths. 



80 to 160 

 Feet. 



160 Feet and 

 upwards. 



. 30 Miles. 



entirely clothed with a dark forest vegetation. The neighbouring waters are even 

 still imperfectly surveyed, and consequently avoided by the Malay seafarers. 



The primitive population of the islands consists of Malays, and the Lingga archi- 

 pelago, which presents a type of remarkable purity, is even traditionally regarded 

 as the cradle of the race. The Riouw dialect is one of the richest in literary 

 products, such as chronicles, dramas, and poems. But in the Eiouw, or northern 

 group, the Malay stock is already largely intermingled with diverse foreign 

 elements — Javanese, who ruled over the islands when the Mojo-Pahit kingdom 

 flourished ; Bugi traders from Celebes, who occupy several villages ; Chinese, who, 

 as in Singapore, have already acquired the numerical preponderance in many places- 



