44 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF THE DINDINGS. 



say, was once occupied by Siamese, who carried on a continual 

 and lively warfare with the Malays under Raja ITAM, whose 

 fort is a little higher up the river, and has given the name to 

 one of the branches. 



Two causes have hitherto operated to prevent the river 

 becoming the port of Perak, as it seems intended by nature 

 to be — (i) the fact that it is in British territory, and that the 

 Government of Perak naturally wanted to have a port in their 

 own State ; and (2) the entire absence of communication be- 

 tween the river and the interior of Perak. The question of 

 railway communication between the Dindings and Kinta re- 

 cently engaged the attention of the Government, but has been 

 shelved for the time being owing to the construction of a line 

 from Telok Anson to Tapa. 



The coast is bold, and in many places rocky, with fine, sandy 

 beaches, presenting a marked contrast to the Perak coast on 

 either side, of which mud-banks and mangrove swamps are 

 the chief characteristics. A range of hills runs along the coast 

 for nearly its entire length, and also for some distance along 

 the North bank of the Binding River, the highest point be- 

 ing at Telok Sera. I believe that the height of this point has 

 never been ascertained, as it is not given in the Admiralty 

 chart, which gives the heights of other points, but it cannot be 

 less than 1,500 feet, and I should say is probably more. 

 On the banks of the Dinding River, opposite Pangkor, there 

 are three hills over 1,000 feet in height and several smaller 

 ones. The soil is fertile and well suited to the cultivation of 

 such products as tapioca, pepper, gambier, Liberian coffee, 

 spices, &c. North of Telok Sera there is a considerable 

 tract of fine, low, swampy land suitable for the cultivation of 

 padi, and, 1 should say, of sugar also, though the latter has not 

 yet been tried. Padi grows excellently there, and if all this 

 land were to be brought under cultivation, a valuable rice crop 

 might be produced. 



The chief product of the district has, however, hitherto 

 been timber, of which a considerable quantity must have been 

 exported during the last ten or twelve years. The quantity 

 exported in 1887 was, in round numbers, 2,200 tons. I know 



