393 



flat land begins with tliis plantation — Paddy, Cocoanuts and various 

 fruits\ Captain Scott, 30 Oorlongs; Mr. Hutton, 19 Oorlongs ; Mr. 

 Light, 106, Oorlongs; Mr. Frankfort, 25; Mr. Pigoa, 39; Bishop, 52^ 

 (Coco-nuts, Betelnuts and fruit trees); Mr. Gray, 2. In all 1128^ 

 Oorlongs were shown to be cultivated in this section. In another 

 section "from Penang to Batu Lanchong 603^ Oorlongs were shown 

 to be in cultivation. • Most of the lands are shown to lie along 

 the sea coasts and to be chiefly planted with Coco-nuts, Betelnuts, 

 Pines, Plantains and various fruit trees." Others were stated to be 

 planted with gambler and pepper. No European names figure in the 

 list of owners (Straits Settlements Records Vol. V.) 



An estimate of the cost of clearing 2,000 oorlongs of ground sent 

 by Light to Calcutta on June 20, 1790, places to total at 22.520 Spanish 

 dollars. How the cleared ground in the Settlement wa5 occupied is 

 shown in a report from Light, dated July 30, 1792 : — 



"I cannot inform your lordship of the exact quantity of paddy 

 ground in present cultivation. Much land that produced paddy the 

 first year of its being cleared is now applied to other uses and will not 

 again be sowed with paddy. Coco-nuts, Betelnuts, Fruit Trees, Gutta, 

 Gambler and Pepper are now upon these lands." 



Bound up with a the records of this period and with a date fixed 

 upon it of 1787 is an unsigned report upon Pinang from the pen 

 either of Captain Kyd or of some official associated with him in the 

 work of reporting upon Pinang. This early account of the island con- 

 tains the following which may he said to be the earliest notice in the 

 Straits of Rubber. 



" Amongst the woods there are a great variety of strong creepers 

 that entwine themselves around all the trees and some of them of so 

 very powerful a vegetation as to check and destroy the trees that 

 have given them support. Amongst the number ofi these favourite 

 creepers is one which yields the elastic gum said by Maj. de la Candom 

 to be the produce of a large tree in Cayenne. This creeper at its 

 greatest size is about six inches diameter and grows continually twis- 

 ting like a corkscrew, even when it has hold of nothing. It is 

 remarkable for having very few branches and leaves and I have traced 

 it from the root to the top of a very high tree without discovering one. 

 The gum is entirely in the bark, which is remarkably thick and when 

 cut or in the least wounded emits a resinous white juice much resem- 

 bling cfeam, which when exposed to the air, in a very few minutes 

 takes the colour and consistency of the elastic gum and is exactly in 

 appearance and answers the same purposes as the Kaoutchuck of 

 South America which, it may be imagined, is also produced from a 

 creeper of the same kind, for I can hardly suppose that nature has 

 given two different plants grasses of so very singular qualities and so 

 very similar as these appear to be If this gum can be put to valuable 

 uses any quantity of it may be collected at Penang as the creeper 

 from which it is extracted is to be found in the greatest plenty." 

 (Straits Settlements Records, Vol. II.) 



