4 



EASTERN' GEOGRAPHY. 



\\\<l wwt sidn, and frrHn southwest to nr>rth-<»a3t on tho opposite Atdu of 

 the Peninsula, A conswjUEncn of thin disposition of tho river tusins in, 

 that at soma of the principal points i>f th? system the streams fluwim; fr.jin 

 thi' same ivntm-- parting lDifrt.li to the CIiiiki Set and un-nth to the Bny of 

 Uenpil hav* their upper water* almost cnntiginins. 8uch is the case," for 

 instance, with thfl riv«m Pahatig and Slim it» 5* Hatth, and the rivers 

 Setting and Moor in 3* Kortk 



Senboarci— I el an da— The const on both sides, hot particularly 

 on tho west, is almost invariably marshy and alluvauL Tim flat, 

 tmliroken scalionrd, scarcely rained above sea level, is generally over- 

 grown with mangroves for some four or five miles inland,. In sonic 

 parte theac low-lying plains expand to a breadth of 25 or 30 miles, 

 put they are usually much more contracted. On the east const the 

 hills approach at several points close to the shore,, a disposiiiuu 

 partly due perhaps to tlie influence of the north-east monsoon. Hera 

 the chief betdtaildf are Ca|>es Oamoin, P;l1;1ii i.Trmgnno, and Homania, 

 to which correspond on the opposite side the promontories of Sflhuig, 

 Kalang, Kuchad®, and Bolus (Bill us). 



In tho extreme Korth both sides of the Pen maul a are frlngrd \>y 

 clusters of hm u me table reefs and islets lying etose to the shore. 

 Further seawards is n second barrier of larger islands in the tjotf of 

 Siani, of which the chief are Tuw, Carnaru (Samai), rind Qidn* In 

 the Bay of Bengal there also rvoi a second chain, forming a southern 

 extension of the Slergui Archipelago, But Iteyond this insular 

 region the cormt in g'«n> rally fri't.' from Ulam.K except fit lh«' H...ii(li«Tn 

 extremity of the Peninsula, where aro elustercd tho Singapore. 

 Bintang (Bentiin), Buiang, nnd Cnrimons (Kerlmon) groups. Else- 

 where the largest islands are Junk (Vylon (Ujung Salang), Lengkiiwi, 

 nnd Penai^ (Piiiang) on the w..-si m.N-; Tantalum, the Great and 

 Little Hcdangs, Tioman. and Tinggi on tho east wide. Their 

 geological formation and general disposition parnllel with the 

 seaboard show that all these groups are mere fragments of the 

 mainland, with which some of the largest, euch as Sal ring, Singapore, 

 nnd Tantalanif are almost contiguous. The Strait of fTngnpnre 

 presents the tipect rather of a river than of a mnrine channel, nui- 

 ning fur nwr 'AO miles (nnsviTsely wiLh the main peninsular nsis, 

 with a mean breadth of little over 1500 yards* 



Isthmus of Kra— These islands thus liear somewhat the name 

 relation to the whole Peninsula that ihis region will present to the 

 Asiatic mainland whenever the projected canalisation of the Isthmus 

 of Kr» is L-fferted. By a ship canal at this point the voyage from 

 Calcutta to Quo a would be shortened by (5110 miles, and that lienwtii 

 Burma and Bangkok by 1300 miles. The original schema, proposed 



