437 



population. Natory, the seat of government, is 

 a large village containincf upwards of a hundred 

 houses. It lies eight miles to the northward of 

 Bauce>\ai:id isHituaiedon a gentle eminence, sur- 

 rounded with paddy tie Ids and water, a rapid ri" 

 \er running ihtoujih it to the sea. A mile and a 

 half hence is Tacoatang, which was formerly a po- 

 pulous village inhabited by native christians, but 

 which has fallen greatly into decay. The small 

 village of Patai lies three or four miles to the 

 N- W , of Tacoatang, and is the last ofthese hamlets. 



The strip of plain, enclosed between the chain 

 of hills and the belt of jungle between Bancey aiid 

 Tacoatang, is extremely narrow, beim^ in no place 

 more than 2 miles wide, but its confined dimen- 

 sions are amply compensated for by its exceed- 

 ing fertility, producing grain and sustaining cattle 

 in abundance- A high mountain, which is more 

 than a day 's journey across, divides Taco[>a from 

 Naiory. The high chain of moiuiiaias, runuiug 

 down this portion of the Peninsula, and clothed 

 with stupendous forests, o[)pof;es au effectual 

 barrier to any land attack from Li gore. In the^se 

 forests are to be found numerous herds of wild 

 elephants. Tin is produced in great qnantiiles 

 at Tacopa, and the mint?s are wrought with liici* 

 hty ; but the insecurity of properly, and the ha- 

 zard which the miners incur of being earned into 

 slavery, are powerful impediments to any ex ten- 

 give scale of operations . 



Keverting to the island, after this digression, 

 we must notice a water Tall, whose deliciously 

 cool waters precipitate then>selves in a sheet of 

 fuara down the face of a steep aud rugged rock. 



