54 



Sketch of the Malayan Penmsula. 



[Jan. 



able quanlities around its base. It is confessedly the highest mountain 

 in this part of the peninsula. In the gold countries of Tringaun, Pa- 

 havg, Gomitichi, &:c. quartz rocks and crystals of the same mineral are 

 met with. At the southern extremity of the peninsula, and in some 

 parts of Salavgore, prophyry occurs associated with granite. The 

 Elephant rock in Quedah is a mass of cavernous limestone and calcare- 

 ous breccia, containing fossil shells. About 16 miles inland runs a 

 range of small hills of a fine grained sandstone. 



According to Dr. Ward " the small hills in the neighbourhood of 

 Malacca are formed of a conglomerate, the base of which is clay-iron- 

 stone, containing imbedded portions of felspar, in a state of decompo- 

 sition (having all the properties of yellow ochre), and small grains of 

 quartz and iron glance, scattered through its substance. The spe- 

 cific gravity of the rock is 2,536 ; when recently dug, it is soft, can be 

 easily cut, and readily stains the fingers ; but after exposure to the air 

 for some time, it acquires such a degree of hardness as to be broken 

 with difficulty ; and its durability is shewn by the present state of the 

 ancient buildings, which have stood unimpaired for nearly 300 years. 

 In its dry state it is porous, from the destruction of the ochreous par- 

 ticles by moisture and exposure to the air, resembling old lava in its 

 external appearance. In all its properties, it agrees exactly with the 

 rock common on the Malabar Coast, and described by Dr. Buchanan 

 under the name of laterite." The laterite formation is of great 

 extent on the W. coast of the peninsula. It is found at Province 

 Wellesley. I have seen it on the coast of Salang07'e nnd on some of 

 the islets in the vicinity ; also at Malacca and Muar. It occurs like- 

 wise at the extremity of the peninsula, and at Singapore. The exter- 

 nal conformaion of the low hills into which this rock rises resembles 

 that of the ranges, lying between the foot of the Western Ghats and 

 the coast of Malabar and Canara, smooth in outline with long flat or 

 mammillary summits, never attaining any considerable height. This 

 formation appears to commence at Fort Victoria on the Western Coast 

 of India, partially fringing the shores of the Bay of Bengal, and 

 running down the western side of the Malayan Peninsula. It probably 

 extends also along its eastern coast,a knowledge of the geology of which 

 is still a desideratum. Hornblende rock is found at a little distance to 

 the south of Malacca, probably as a dyke in the granite ; but 

 this I had not an opportunity of ascertaining. Some of the 

 islets in the vicinity of Pinang are of a bluish grey limestone, 

 containing pelagic fossil remains, as at Pulo Sedah, and resting on an 

 argillaceous schist, both in strata dipping at a considerable angle. 



