231 
metalled road with probably sho rtiy -oin Besserali, 2^ miles 
distant, with Ivuantan. This la; d i said to be of first class 
quality, high and well drained. 
Along the line of the Blat-f itan road there are at 
least 10,000 acres available, but 3 land is swampy and 
would require considerable drai ge. The possibility, of 
the vast areas of virgin jungle is and other districts 
in Pahang is only limited by tl tifficidties of access and 
communicati on . 
Communication by sea with Singapore i. maintained 
by an almost daily service of steamers in the south-west 
monsoon; in the north-east monsoon — say, from October to 
March — communication is much less regular, and is fre- 
quently interrupted. 
Pek'an. 
The head-quarters of the district — which is also the 
seat of the residence of His Highness the Sultan— is Pekau, 
a few miles from the mouth of the Pahang river. The bar 
has silted up so much in recenpyears that steamers have 
to lie off a considerable distance from the shore ; passengers 
and goods are conveyed ashore in surf boats, a proceeding- 
fraught with both difficulty and danger in the north-east 
monsoon. The District Officer and an Assistant are sta- 
tioned at Pekan. 
Communication at present -s entirely by water and 
jungle path, the district being practically roadless except 
where the line of the Benta, -Ivuantan road crosses the north- 
ern part. Little is known of the country away from the 
rivers, and it will be a considerable time yet before the dis- 
trict can offer any attractions to the planter. 
CONCLUSION. 
It may be said in brief that there are hundreds of thou- 
sand- of acres in the Malay States yet available for agri- 
culture. In the foregoing paragraphs only a small per- 
centage, which is fairly easy of access, and may reasonably 
he expected to return good re nits, lias been dealt with. 
What great possibilities lie burn I in the immense tracts of 
virgin forest which still occupy great portion of the 
Peninsula only time and the advance of the Federation will 
reveal; but it* is a fact not entirely devoid of significance 
that wherever the Government has pushed forwards its 
