1916.] H. C. Ropinson & C. B. Kioss: 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, Leptospermum, Vaccinium, 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—2o ft. 
and afford a welcome broken shade ona fine day. Golden- 
flowered Xyris anda pretty free-blossoming pink Argostemma 
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 more gently to become a narrow arréte 
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 1unning near its profile, 
while across its base the inland 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 isin the middle distance and the wooded 
islets of the Bunting group with their glistening yellow beaches 
are strung out ina 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 
