AND GEOLOGY OP THE MALAY PENINSULA- 8 ( J 
sandy beaches. As we proceed north, groups of mountains appear at a 
short distance inland, and alluvial plains in front, as on the west coast. 
Along the Pahang coast the mountains become more numerous, several 
ranges appearing behind each other. Considerable portions of the 
coast are formed by advancing hill ranges, the faces of which, expos¬ 
ed to the attacks of the powerful waves of the China sea during the 
north east monsoon, are at the points rugged, while the sea in front 
breaks over ledges and blocks, which shew how the work of destrue- 
truction has advanced. Where the ranges terminate, considerable 
alluvial plains, traversed by rivers, occur. Midway between Paining 
and Tringanu, and where the Peninsula attains its greatest latitudinal 
breadth, there is a portion of the coast remarkable for a series of deep 
bays, separated by bold projecting rocky capes. It seems to be caus¬ 
ed by a mountain chain approaching the coast. Of the northern part 
of the eastern coast we remain ignorant. 
Such are the general characteristics of the Peninsula as viewed 
from the sea. A more particular account of that portion with which 
we are personally best acquainted will be given, when we speak of 
the changes which it has undergone from the action of the sea and 
rivers. 
It is impossible to form any estimate of the average height of the 
interior. The only mountain whose height has been accurately mea¬ 
sured is that of Pinang, The summits of which heights have been most 
carefully ascertained are respectively 2,922 and 2,410* feet above the 
level of the sea. Gunong Jerai (Kedah Peak) and Gunong L^dang 
(Mount Ophir) have been stated to be 5,705 feetf and 5,693 feet f 
high, but no dependence can be placed on estimates which have not 
the foundation of even the rudest barometrical or trigonometrical ob¬ 
servations, and which are probably considerably too high. 
Geology. —Asia, possessing the greatest, and perhaps also the most 
ancient, mass of dry land on the globe, cannot be severed, in a physical 
or geological view, from the great insular region which lies to the south¬ 
ward of it. With reference to the subterranean forces from whose 
action it rose and took its form, the surface of the ocean indicates 
* Belcher, Low + Newbold. 
