lfi 



EASTERN GEOGRAPHY, 



extensive mud brink prevQiitiog vesHck from approaching nearer 

 tlisL.fi fuur miles to the coakL 



Tho old town, called " Qnednh " by the Portuguese wm situated in 

 latitude ri' North upon one of the large/it rivers, supposed to be the Merbu, 

 which wjus imvignhlu for voxels of a 1)1) tons burden. 



TJu: geological formation of Kdlah, generally Kpnaking, U ffr:ini?.-. . l i ■ - 1 

 hi places titi in found and, it ia believed, gold. Hut tho" more important 

 1lil mines are just beyond the Kodah frontiers ; mid thin Itolitti true both 

 to tb« north, the east, and the south. Limestone emps nut in a remark- 

 aUi- manner tit Gunnug Wang, on the river Gitt, a, tributary of the Muda, 

 and :it Gunong Guriyang, or Elephant Mount, Tht vegetable products 

 are the usual ones of thu PeiitnMiliL, tin* country being jartie.ularly well 

 adapted for growing rims. Fruit tree* of all lcirulji r rspichlly 1 Li man- 

 go* tin ami durian, grow to great | I'-rf'-u I ii »ri_ Aim-ng its wilil imiruubf T i - ■ 

 elephant b eoiumon., and is uscil as a hi-ast of bunlou. Cattle and buffaloes 

 m abundant in the domestic state. 



Thu inhabitants consist of Malaya; of a few Saw-Sams or mixed 

 Siatne-iu in thu north, who art; usually Mahouit-dau hi' re, and speak lwth 

 Malay and Siamese ; of thu" Pern b^uln Negrito* ; of hair-caste Telingas 

 {Kdingil, speaking hiith Tamil ami Malay ; and of a h-w rhinese. 



The capital is Kata Star, or Alor Star, on a river of no great mxv, 

 though nno of the largest of the country, to the north of tin* conspicuous 

 M>n i ii' J«ret. It has for some years been connected, by tho rough road 

 already tu 'oliom-d, with Senggora ^ ■ ei thu cast, the nearent Siamese town, 

 nf i tn iwrtu line. Tbts ia at present I he only roail :i'to:-h Mi. ]■■ niiiiiihi. 

 Tin' livT Mm l.i, the tr nil i ■ - r <•( Prnviiuv Wi-I Icrdi-y, is navigable fio -in ill 

 boats to Haling, distant about 00 miles east. This rdacc is of boiilc 

 imp-irlancc as tho frontier station, near the point wlim K-l tli, I 1 ' r.ik t ar • ! 

 f'al.'nii sjjri-l ; and from Baling tin- Mmiu livrr i.-; used C>. miry Jo uiarkH 

 at Poiiang the tin which in fumd in mntsual a lunula nc at Klim Intan 

 and Kroh, on thu eiut or Pataui si Jo of the dividing range of Titi 

 "Wangs*. 



Th" eounlry ut tlu< hank of Province W^lh-sloy ht also known to be rich 

 in tin at Serdung ami Killim, but it uaa not yet ma fully developed. 



It follows from the position of Kednh that its trade is almost exclusively 

 wiLh Penang, with which [*ort communication by steamer is now ensv and 

 f- . - 1 - - 1 1 1 . Tin! -spurts cinstsl principally of tin, ri-:-.\ ha:s' jmirture -from 

 thu liniu-stoJin niVi's), and jungle produce^ 



Thu hidtory of this Sr ite, as of all tho others of thn Piinitisula to tho 

 north of Malacca, is full of obscurity, tjolouel Uiw dijewveretl in tfif 

 I'lii:-.:-. soiii- ri-in ilii- i f whiL In- Mippnsi-d l-> hi- lind'tiiix! t'-iuph.-i. and 

 ariTne iiiscriptiojiH in l\u< Pali character, ilnlicaling not Malay hut Siamese 

 cultLiri:. It Meeius prolMiblo that BYtSO so late jis the >H>gi tilling of Uie 

 sUte'-nLli century the Malays hero had been hlil ]. ulLI y converted 

 to M:Lhom>n]»rtisiiL, Thu MfHaft authentic itifunnit inn w/y have nt 

 K'-'lah is fi'un the Purl ol;iLi'm- writer Parin^ i, « h..-.- niiumseript if* i luted 

 *' Lhthou, 1A16/' and he de»?rilms it ns '"a plaee of the kingdom of 

 Sinn." and makea mention nf u "Si' ijiorl railed tyit'ttfttt, to whirb sti 

 inlinitc tiumlK'r of ships resort, traditi^ in ull kiod^ of UiereliamliHe, " 

 Kcdah, 3n coin moo with all the other northi res .-.I.lIii <tf the p<iiiiis'.da, 

 ha-t proliahly Wen always tnorc nr h-s<i Irilntl iry to Sinrn, jlihI living, 

 with Patani", the most northern of all tho Malay Stale*, it baa been 

 most subject to tla direct iudueuco. But the policy of the Siamese 



