GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF 'i'llfi ISLAND OF BANKA. 375 
the natural form of the island. According to this one portion may¬ 
be properly denominated the western division , another the northern 
division, and the third, which comprizes the great body of the is¬ 
land, the south eastern-division . The boundaries and extent of cadi 
will be pointed out in the following geographical details. 
A number of small islands are found in the seas surrounding the 
coast of Banka; the most considerable of these are 1. Pula Pdnjdng , on 
the eastern coast opposite the discharge of Marawang-rivcr ; 2. 
Pulo-Lipdr near the south-east extremity, forming a strait called 
by the natives Selat-Lipar, but neither the situation of the strait nor 
of the island has yet been determined with accuracy; 3, Nuso-Pdri , 
erroneously called Lusi-par&, at the southern entrance of the straits 
of Banka, between this island and Sumatra ; 4, the Ndngkd islands, 
nearly opposite the discharge of the river of Solan, besides a num¬ 
ber of small islands whose name and situation have not been ascer¬ 
tained. 
My endeavour has been, in the following geographical account of 
the island, to point out as nearly as possibly could be done, with my 
sources of information, the situation of those places which will be 
mentioned and refered to, in the description of the settlements and 
mines of the island, as well as in the detail of the mineralogical ami 
botanical remarks. I have been solicitous, as far as possible to inves¬ 
tigate and point out (lie principal rivers, tile bays, the most promi¬ 
nent points of the coast, the mountains and ridges of hills, the set¬ 
tlements of the Malays and Chinese, and the divisions adopted by the 
original inhabitants. 
The remarks of a general nature, the description of the face of 
the country, the inhabitants, their mode of life and occupations, the 
state of agriculture, the history of the different settlements &c., will 
be contained in the journal, or form subjects of separate essays.* 
Sly object at present is a concise and clear description of the island, 
and my only ambition a moderate degree of accuracy. 
The Western division of the island is comprised between the 
* See the Introduction, ante p. 21>P, 
