393 
flat land begins with this plantation— Paddy, Cocoanuts and various 
fruits^ Captain Scott, 30 Oorlongs ; Mr, Hutton, 19 Oorlongs ; Mr 
Light, 106, Oorlongs; Mr. Frankfort, 25 ; Mr. Pigou, 39; Bishop, 52% 
(Coco-nuts, Betelnuts and fruit trees); Mr. Gray, 2. In all 1128^ 
Oorlongs were shown to be cultivated in this section. In another 
section “from Penang to Batu Lanchong 603^ Oorlongs were shown 
to be in cultivation. Most of the lands are shown to lie along 
the sea coasts and to be chiefly planted with Coco-nuts, Betelnuts, 
Pines, Plantains and various fruit trees.” Others were stated to be 
planted with gambier and pepper. No European names figure in the 
list of owners (Straits Settlements Records Vol. V.) 
An estimate of the cost of clearing 2,000 oorlongs of ground sent 
byLight to Calcutta on June 20, 1790, places to total at 22.520 Spanish 
dollars. How the cleared ground in the Settlement was occupied is 
shown in a report from Light, dated July 30, 1792 .— 
I cannot infonn your lordship of the exact quantity of paddy 
ground in present cultivation. Much land that produced paddy the 
first year of its being cleared is now applied to other uses and will not 
again be sowed with paddy. Coco-nuts, Betelnuts, Fruit Trees, Gutta, 
Gambler and Pepper are now upon these lands.” 
Bound up with a the records of this period and with a date fixed 
upon it of 1787 is an unsigned report upon Pinang from the pen 
either of Captain Kyd or of some official associated with him in the 
work of reporting upon Pinang. . This early account of the island con- 
tains the lollowing which may be said to be the earliest notice in the 
Straits of Rubber. 
“ Amongst the woods there are a great variety of strong creepers 
that entwine themselves around all the trees and some of them of so 
very powerful a vegetation as to check and destroy the trees that 
have given them support. Amongst the number ofl these favourite 
creepers is one which yields the elastic gum said by Maj. de la Candom 
10 be the produce of a large tree in Cayenne. This creeper at its 
greatest size is about six inches diameter and grows continually twis- 
ting like a corkscrew, even when it has hold of nothing. It is 
remarkable for having very few branches and leaves and I have traced 
it from the root to the top of a very high tree without discovering one. 
The gum is entirely in the bark, which is remarkably thick and when 
cut or in the least wounded emits a resinous white juice much resem- 
bling cream, which when exposed to the air, in a very few minutes 
takes the colour and consistency of the elastic gum and is exactly in 
appearance and answers the same purposes as the Kaoutehuck of 
South America which, it may be imagined, is also produced from a 
creeper of the same kind, for I can hardly suppose that nature has 
given two different plants grasses of so very singular qualities and so 
very similar as these appear to be If this gum can be put to valuable 
uses any quantity of it may be collected at Penang as the creeper 
from which it is extracted is to be found in the greatest plenty,” 
(Straits Settlements Records, Vol. II.) 
