GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF BANKA. 3JJ 
The western portion of the town is built, upon the whole, with 
most regularity; it is divided, where the space admits, by neat cross 
ways; near the centre, where the acclivity of the hill is less abrupt, 
the houses of the Rangft (the chief of the village) and of several 
other of the principal inhabitants, are built on the eminence. Be¬ 
yond the centre the sandy plain is more extensive, but the dwellings 
are spread over it with less order; towards the eastern extremity they 
are again confined by the steepness of the hill. From the roads the 
whole range of dwellings which forms the town caunot be taken in¬ 
to one view without interruption, large clusters of trees are spread 
through it, which conceal the houses in various situations. 
The houses are built in the usual Malay style ; elevated from the 
ground by poles or pillars, and containing an open space below. Those 
of-the more wealthy inhabitants are lined on the sides with planks, 
the others with the bark of trees. The roofs consist of Ataps, which 
are prepared from the leaves of the Nipd palm (the nip a fruticans) 
into a covering resembling thatch. 
Several of the chief inhabitants have extensive dwellings, con¬ 
structed with considerable neatness, divided into various apartments 
and affording a good deal of convenience: those of the poorer class 
consist mostly of a single room. The aggregate number of houses is 
357 and of inhabitants 1546 (N.B. about the end of July A. D. 1813.) 
A river called Sungie Minto-Taw&r discharges itself into the sea 
about the middle of the town ; Sungie Minto Azin is situated nearly 
a quarter of a mile to the west; the outlet of Sungie-Telok RobfySL 
is near the eastern extremity. Separated by an eminence extending 
abruptly to the shore, about half a mile further east, we meet a dis¬ 
tinct village, on a small rivulet, called by the same name, Sungie- 
Bant ; it is considered as belonging to Minto, 
The environs of Minto differ in no degree from those of other 
parts of the island in which settlements are formed. No species of 
culture is carried on with any regularity. The hill which bounds 
the town towards the interior is covered with fruit trees of every kind, 
which form, in a highly fertile soil, an artificial forest, growing in 
promiscuous luxuriance. 
