PAKALONGAN 320 PALAWAN
Nearly the whole province is one sheet of cultivation, the greater part of it bv
perennial irrigation. o r j
PAKALONGAN, or PAKALUNGAN, (Place of Kalung Bats or Vampires). This
is one of the provinces of the alluvial northern side of Java, having that of Tftgal to
the west, that of Samarang to the east, and that of Baglen to the south, with the sea
to the north. I t is divided from the two last-named provinces by high mountains the
peaks of which rise to from 7000 to 11,500 feet above the level of the sea. These
mountains, bending to the south-east, leave between them and the sea an alluvial
plain ; which to the west, where it is widest, is from five to six leagues broad. Prom
the mountains, there proceed many streams, eleven of which are of considerable size •
and which, although not navigable, are extensively applied to irrigation, and are thé
mam cause of the great fertility of the province. The coast is an unbroken line
r « harbour or bay. The chief town of the same name lies in south latitude
D ho, and east longitude 109° 40'.
. Thf °'i“ ate, ° / J \ k“i°nSan ,is but healthy. The thermometer in the shade
rises to 88 and 90 at the level of the sea; but on Prau, one of the mountains which
bounds it to the south, it falls to 50°, and in the winter months of June and July
thin ice and hoar frost are seen in the early morning. The sugar cane thrives at
no greater height than 200 feet above the level of the sea ; but indigo at 600 and
rice and coffee as high as 3000. At this last height a few coco-palms are still to be
seen, alter which the gomuti, or Saguerus saccharifer'us takes its place. The tea-plant
flounshes at the height of 5000 feet. F
Pakalangan has still 129 square miles of forest, containing some useful timber
but teak only in quantity sufficient for local use. In this forest are found the tieer
and leopard, the wild dog of Java, deer, two species of hog, the rhinoceros, the
u . a ox, and the otter, with as usual, deer and monkeys. It also contains the two
species of gallinaceous birds found in other parts of Java, Gallus Bankiva and Gallus
rurcatus. The vampire bat, from which is derived the name of the province is to be
seen in great numbers in the day-time hanging from the trees and at night prévins on
the orchards. ° J 5
■ staple product of Pakalongan is rice, but the Dutch, in recent times, have
introduced the culture, by corvée labour, of indigo, sugar-cane, and the exotics, coffee
tea, and cinnamon, all which are produced in considerable quantity. The bulk of
the population consists of true Javanese, with the usual sprinkling of Malays
Chinese, Europeans, and their respective descendants. In 1815, the census made thé
r rA?°P ?tltm and its area being 166 square miles, we have a relative one
ioern U S(luare mile, which makes it one of the most populous of Java. In
1850, however, the population would seem, even within the short period of five
years, to have declined, for it is put down at no more than 223,852. In 1813 the
number of its horned cattle was reckoned at 31,000, and its horses at 1000 Pakalongan
was ceded to the Dutch in 1713, at the close of the long intestine war which
followed the massacre of the Chinese at Batavia in 1710, and ten years later the
Dutch fort was built, which still exists in the town.
PALAWAN, generally called by the Spaniards of the Philippines, Paragua is the
name of the most westerly of the Philippines, and after Luzon and Mindano the
largest of them The name of Palawan, or correctly Palawang, is said to be taken
from the Bugis language, and to signify a gate or sluice, in reference to its position
serving as a protection or barrier against the violence of the China Sea. I t extends
between north latitudes 8° 13' and 11° 17', in a direction south-east and north-west to
the length of about 230 miles. Its breadth varies from 10 to 25 miles and its area
probably does not exceed 4500 square miles. The northern end consists of a
peninsula, or rather of two peninsulas, a larger and a smaller, formed by the intervention
of the Bay of Malampaya. Towards its northern end, the coast is studded
by numerous islands, the only ones of considerable size being Dumaran and Iloc.
Palawan is distant from Borneo to the south, many islets intervening, about 90
miles ; from Mindoro to the north-east, about 100 ; and from Panay, to the east
about the same distance ; so that in this manner, it is remote from any of the other
considerable islands.
The land of Palawan is represented as high, but the island does not appear to
contain any mountain of considerable elevation, and of its geological formation we
know no more than that its northern end consists of limestone rocks rising abruptly
from the sea to the height of 200 and 300 feet, and containing many caverns. I t is
expressly stated to be, like the other Philippines, vexed by earthquakes, and we therefore
PALEMBANG 321
, conclude that it does not come within the limits of the great volcanic band, and,
consequently, that no part of its formation is volcanic. The climate is hot, and the
island within the latitudes of the typhoons, its western side being exposed to the
action of the Sea of China. Its vegetable productions are stated to bear much
resemblance to those of Borneo, and among them is the Malay camphor-tree (Dryo-
balanops camphora). Its canes are in great repute in Manilla. Its wild animals are
deer, hogs, monkeys, the porcupine, a species of .civet or polecat said to be peculiar
to it, and it is alleged, one feline animal, a kind of leopard. The most marketable
of its products are bee’s-wax and the esculent nests of the swallow, which abound in
its many caves, and in gathering which the natives exhibit much skill and courage.
The inhabitants of Palawan resemble those of the Bisaya islands in person, but are
darker in complexion, with hair frizzling instead of lank. All of them not subject to
the Spanish rule, are represented as naked savages, but inoffensive ones, living chiefly
by the chase, and having no other arms than sumpitans or blow-pipes for discharging
little arrows. The northern end of the island, which is the narrowest, is alone subject
to the Spaniards, and forms part of their province of Calamianes. It is to this that
the name of Paragua especially applies. I t comprehends about 60 miles of the
length of the island, with an area of 1000 square miles, and its whole population,
most probably emigrants from the Bisaya islands, amounted, by the census of 1850,
to no more than 1570, paying a capitation-tax of 5475 reals of plate. This gives
about an inhabitant and a half to the square mile, distributed in eleven villages, and
converted to Christianity. The Spanish part is represented, and no doubt truly, as
the most populous portion of the island. Some part of its west end is claimed by
the Sultan of Borneo, but the larger is occupied by the wild and independent
aborigines, divided into numerous tribes. We shall not greatly err in pronouncing
Palawan to be, although a great, yet an eminently sterile island, in this respect far
even below Borneo.
PALEMBANG. This is the name of a kingdom of Sumatra, composed of the
most southerly end of the great alluvial plain which lies between the central chain of
mountains and. the sea, from the western entrance of the Straits of Malacca to the
eastern of those of BanCa. I t is bounded to the north by the state of Jambi, to the
south by the country of the Lampungs, to the north-west by Limun, to the west by
the central chain of mountains which are a part of it, and to the south-east by
the sea which forms the Straffs of Banca. Its area has been reckoned at 16,480
geographical square miles, or little short of half the extent of Java. I t contains
many rivers, the most considerable of which are the Musi, or Sungsang, and Banu-
asin which are connected by a branch or natural canal, and falls into the sea by four
different mouths.
The climate of Palembang, as might be expected so near to the equator, is uncertain
and variable as to seasons. The monsoons which prevail are the same as those of
Java, but less constant,—namely, the south-east and the north-west. The rainy
season corresponds witb the last of these, and during its continuance the rivers
overflow their banks, and the lower country is extensively inundated. While this
inundation is draining off, the quantity of water is so great that the flood-tide ceases
to be felt in the rivers. This is the case from December to April inclusive. In the
other months of the year it reaches for 100 miles up the Musi, or principal river.
In the hottest season, Fahrenheit’s thermometer stands at 80° in the morning, and at
92° at two o’clock, and in the coldest at 76° and 85°., The climate, notwithstanding
the superabundance of heat, moisture, marsh, and forest, is remarked not to be
unhealthy, the country being open and well ventilated.
Of the geological structure of the territory of Palembang, no account has been
rendered. By far the greater portion of it, however, is an alluvial plain, but it
contains, also, to the west, some mountain and hilly country, which has not been
examined. Its forests yield ratans, dragon’s-blood and benzoin, and its cultivated
plants are rice, the sugar-cane, tobacco, gambir, indigo, coffee, and pepper.
All the larger animals of the forests of the other parts of Sumatra are found
here, as the tiger, the leopard, the elephant, and the rhinoceros. The chief domesticated
ones are the buffalo, the goat, the hog, and common poultry. The sheep
has been introduced, but the horse does not exist in this country of marsh and
forest.
The inhabitants of Palembang consist of the descendants of Javanese,—of Malays,—
of an aboriginal people called Kumring, and of a wild race known under the name
of Kubu, with a few Arabs and Chinese. The total population has been estimated
T