130 OBSERVATIONS ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE 



Close to the entrance of the Perak river are the Bountin Islands, 

 hilly, with rocky shores. Granite seems to be here the prevailing rock. 

 The plains of Perak are chietly alluvial, up to the line where a marked 

 ascent towards the central range is discernible, and which may, perhaps, 

 be averaged at fifteen miles from the sea. The range in question is a 

 portion of the great N. and S. one, which divides the Malayan Peninsula 

 longitudinally. The rivers to the eastward of it consequently disembogue 

 themselves into the Gulph of Siam, while those to the westward enter the 

 JBay of Bengal and the Malacca Straits. This range, generally, considered, 

 lies nearer to the west than to the east coast of the Peninsular. Where it 

 bounds Perak on the east, it is both lofty, and, in so far as observed, con- 

 tinuous. Gold has been found in the beds of some of the mountain tor- 

 rents which join the Perak river. From specimens of ores of gold, found 

 in the hills east of Malacca, it would seem that the matrix is most fre- 

 quently quartz. That the Malacca Peninsula was the golden Chersonese 

 of the ancients, cannot now be proved, but it yields at this day gold in, 

 sufficient abundance to render this position probable. The granite forma- 

 tion appears to predominate amongst the Perak hills, and in it are found 

 the veins of tin from which the Dutch formerly derived much profit, and 

 which now yields valuable supplies of that metal. The mines must be 

 very rich, since even at this period the native workman seldom digs above 

 ten or twelve feet below the surface, and often contents himself with merely 

 washing the soil taken from the beds of rivulets, and separating the oxyd 

 of the metal in the shape of a black sand. The oxyd of antimony is also ob- 

 tained in large quantities amongst the hills, but my specimens being pure I 

 cannot specify the rocks with which they are associated. Lime is also (ac- 

 cording to native formation) obtained, but its nature and locality have not 

 been ascertained. From some native accounts also it seems not improbable 

 that coal will be discovered in this track. Perak is a fine country, watered 

 by a river of a very picturesque nature, and it contains a considerable 



population 



