158 



GEOLOGY OF PULO PINANG, 



only on its north-west side; in all other places, the forest comes close 

 down to the shore. There is the channel of a mountain torrent on 

 the north side, choked up with large fragments of rock, at the foot 

 of which is a spring of excellent water. The rocks are entirely gra- 

 nitic, the feldspar of the granite being in a state of decomposition, 

 (No. 50). Large veins of quartz, in some places highly crystallized, tra- 

 verse them in all directions, (No. 51). Among the rolled masses of the 

 channel above mentioned, are specimens of a greener granite, approach- 

 ing to primitive greenstone, (No. 52) ; and on the beach were found a few 

 pieces of black limestone, fNo. 53,) probably conveyed from Pulo Beedan 

 or Sonsong. 



Round the whole of the Soontings the sea is beautifully clear ; 

 and the coral beds are distinctly visible at a considerable distance 

 below the surface of the water. The only one inhabited is Pulo JBidan, 

 in which live, in huts of miserable construction, about twenty Malays, 

 engaged in catching and drying fish for the Pinang market. In sail- 

 ing round these islands, we had a magnificent view of Quedah peak, 

 or Gunong gerai, on the mainland, which rises to the supposed height of 

 five thousand feet. Its composition, I am informed, is entirely granitic ; 

 its outlines are bold, sharp and pointed ; the sides are steep, rising 

 rapidly from the base ; and it presents one immense dense mass of 

 vegetation, unbroken some here and there by a few precipitous white 

 crags. By the aid of the glass, we discovered the channel of a mountain 

 torrent, which, in the rainy season, must form splendid cascades in its 

 course. It has never been ascended by Europeans, and so great is the 

 jealousy of the Siamese government, in whose territories it is, that it is 

 not likely it ever will be. The whole of the coast below it, seems one 

 flat uncultivated plain, covered with mangrove, extending a considerable 

 way inland. 



