32f> 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. [Malay Peninsula. 



of late years made encroachments on the N. face of the fort, and along the 

 esplanade, and for upwards of a mile in that direction. 



The town, called George Town by the English, and Panjang Panaiquc 

 by the Malays, is of considerable extent ; bounded on the N. and E. by the 

 sea, on the S. by a small river, and on the W. by the high road. The 

 streets, which cross each other at right angles, are spacious and airy ; the 

 principal ones are now properly raised and drained, and the town has in 

 consequence improved much in appearance and cleanliness. There is a 

 large pier for landing and shipping goods, to which fresh water is con- 

 ducted by pipes. 



Since the island has become the seat of Government, considerable alter- 

 ations have taken place in every deportment. A Government house, a 

 church, a jail, and several substantial bridges have been built ; the fortifi- 

 cations have been improved and strengthened, and the public roads repaired 

 and widened. The inhabitants have greatly increased ; by the census in 

 June 1822, the numbers of all nations amounted to 45,127, including 400 

 Europeans. 



Pulo Pinang was originally granted to the East India Company by the 

 King of Queda, at the request of Captain Prancis Light, of the Country 

 service, who had married his daughter. The Bengal Government, seeing 

 the island so peculiarly adapted as a mercantile station for vessels from all 

 the Malay ports, the Moluccas, Borneo, Celebes, and the Phillipine Islands, 

 did not hesitate to accept the King of Queda's grant ; conceiving that, by an 

 establishment properly secured, the Bengal trade with that of China would 

 be connected, and from the conduct of the Dutch, it became necessary to 

 have a port where the Country ships might meet the Eastern merchants, as 

 well for the promotion of that valuable commerce, as to afford a windward 

 station of refreshment and repair to the King's, the Company's, and -the 

 country ships. In 1805, the Court of Directors, in consideration of the con- 

 venient position of the island, formed it into a regular government. 



Trade. — Pinang has few productions of its own to export, besides 

 areca and pepper ; of the latter a large quantity is grown; but it is a 

 mart for the commodities of China and the Eastern islands. The 

 European articles imported comprehend a vast variety calculated for the 

 Malay, Chinese, and Eastern markets. Large quantities of woollens, metals, 

 &c. have been sent out by the Company since it became a separate Govern- 

 ment. Considerable supplies of Bengal and Madras piece-goods are imported 

 for the Malay trade. Opium is likewise an important article of import at 

 Pinang; besides the quantity exported, chests are annuallv consumed by 



