PEi w ’J ! the +-amei °f I f Se°°? d Malay state of the f T n counting from the north. I t is bounded to the nworetsht ebryn Qsuieddea , otfo tthhee
chain rtf .^ f? re’ “ mi0 the eaat by Jnnganu and Pahang, the central mountain
ithî fer dt epfthi orf Lth, e c“ou' nxt ry i®n l0a0nads t glemnee roalfl yP e5r0a km i1l8e ss,a siod tth0a t it1 m00a ym icloens tianin l eanng tahr,e aa nodf
5000 square miles Besides the territory on the mainland, the uninhabited Dending
islands belong to it. _ The name Perak signifies silver, and is probably
in!v t that of the principal river of the country. This is a tortuous stream of
mtiicate navigation, and accessible only to small craft, having its debouchement in
v ^ north latltude 5° 1Q/- On the banks of this river are situated
the bulk of the inhabitants, consisting of Malays and a few Chinese, while the mountains
oi the interior contain some wild and wandering tribes of the Malayan race
here known under the name of Sakai, and a few of the Negritos or Sâmang. Tim total
SB n n n *“■' C0I1jecture. I t has been reckoned at 15,000, and as high as
35,000, but 20,000 is supposed to be the most likely approximation, and this would
give the scanty rate of four inhabitants to the square mile. The whole country is
m fact a vast jungle m which are scattered a very few villages. The principal’
cultivation is rice, of which about enough is produced for local consumption. The
duniin, mangostm, and rambutan (Nephelium lappaeeum) grow in perfection. The
productions of the forest for commerce are the usual ones, ivory, bees’-wax, rhinoceros’
P > s?me Perfume 011(1 dye-woods. Its tin, however, is the product
which has always given some importance to Perak : this is, as usual, alluvial, the
workings existing towards the foot of the mountain range, and being chiefly wrought
by the Malays without the aid of Chinese, and consequently unskilfully and unpro-
ductively. The quantity of metal produced, and which is all exported to Penang or
Singapore, has been estimated at from 500 to 600 tons.
When or how the state of Perak was founded is unknown,—a mystery, like the
founding of all the other states of the Peninsula. At present, it is nominally subject
to biam, and m former tunes, had been occasionally so to Malacca, Jehor, Achin, and
the Dutch. Virtually, it is entirely independent.
PHILIP PINE ARCHIPELAGO. This comprehends the many islands extending
between the fifth and the twenty-first degree of north latitude, akd is bounded to the
aabhoouttt 16 of latitudrte , an^d S9o 6o*f“ l’o anngdit u*d° et.h e Twoe tsht eb nyo trhteh stheae noef aCrehsitn ala. ndI tt oe mit birsa tchees
aland of Formosa, distant about 80 miles; to the north-west China distant about
300 miles ; and to the south Borneo about 45 miles. According to this view, the
long chain of the Sulu Islands form the southern boundary of the Archipelago, and
the Bashis its northern ; but these last can hardly be said to belong to it geographically,
and probably, therefore, the Babuanes islands, in about latitude 19° 30'
ought more justly to be considered so. ’
According to the reckoning of Spanish writers, the Philippines amount to 408
islands, exclusive of rocks and uninhabited islets. Two islands are pre-eminently
large, Luzon which is by more than one-half, and Mindano by one-fifth larger than
Ireland. These are followed by seven islands, Panay, Negros, Çebu, Samar, Leyte,
Mindoro, and Palawan, the smallest of which, Çebu, is about one-fifth, and the largest
Panay, about one-half the size of Sicily. After these come two considerable islands’
Bohol and Masbate, of about one-half the extent of the smallest of the last-named
gr°uP‘ ■ a y’ we ha7e about twenty such islands as Marinduque, Catanduanes
and Calamianes. The islands now named, about thirty in number, constitute thé
important part of the Archipelago. One island, Luzon, is pre-eminently superior to
all the rest put together ; and for extent, fertility, and other natural advantages is
probably, the finest in the tropical world. The entire Archipelago may proba’blv
contain an area of about 200,000 square geographical miles.
. Tbe. configuration of most of the larger islands is longitudinal, their length being
in a direction north and south, and in all of them, a chain or range of mountains runs
through them in this direction, seldom exceeding 6000 feet high, or about one-half the
height of the mountains of the Sunda Islands. All the larger islands are abundantly
almost superabundantly,.supplied with rivers flowing from these mountains, many of
them contributing by irrigation to the fertility of the countries they water, but few to
internal communication. The two largest islands contain some fine lakes,—Luzon
four large ones, and Mindano five; the first, moreover, having periodical lakes of vast
extent which may be compared, for the fertility they bestow, to the inundations of
the Nile and Ganges. The western side of Luzon.alone contains safe and spacious
harbours, but the southern portion of the Archipelago, out of the region of storms,
stands in little need of them. ;
The geological formation of the Archipelago consists of almost every kind of rock.
The basis of the mountain chains is considered to be granitic, but the most characteristic
feature of the geology of the group, consists in the great volcanic band which
begins in the bay of Bengal and ends with the Kurile Islands passing through it. This
band after proceeding from Sumatra and Java to the Banda Islands in the 130th
meridian, in a direction nearly east, turns to the north-west, and after passing the
Molucca islands and a small part of the north-eastern peninsula of Celebes, enters the
Philippines at Mindano at the distance of about 220 miles. From Mindano, it
extends through the whole Philippine Archipelago, (its western portion from
Palawan to Mindoro excepted), as far as the Babuyan islands, so that its length here
extends over about 280 leagues. Extinct volcanos are numerous in all the large
islands, and active ones in Luzon and Mindano, in which, since the Spanish^ conquest
in 1564, no fewer than eleven destructive eruptions are recorded as having taken
place, the earliest being in 1627.
The metals ascertained to exist in the Philippines are gold, found in most of the
larger islands but most abundant in Luzon and Mindano, iron, chiefly in the same
islands, with copper, lead, and mercury, in Luzon. Sulphur is abundant^ in most
of the islands, but especially in Leyte, Mindano, and the province of Albany m Luzon.
Coal, a lignite, has been found and partially worked in the islet of Rapu-rapu on
the eastern coast of Luzon, at the entrance of the great bay of Albany, and the two
small islands at the southern extremity of Mindano called Sirangan, are stated to be
nothing but coal beds, not improbably part of the same Bornean field, which crops out
in Labuan, and is now worked by an English company in that island. Variegated marble
is found in the province of Bataan in Luzon, and has been occasionally used in church
building in Manilla. Carbonate of lime is widely disseminated, but gypsum sparingly.
The native vegetable products of the southern portion of the Philippines correspond
generally, with those of the Malayan Islands, but as the Archipelago
extends by twelve degrees of latitude further north, there must be in many respects
a material divergence. No fewer than 218 forest trees, chiefly of the more northern
provinces, have been subjected to experiments in the arsenal of Manilla, and the
relative strength, tenacity, and specific gravity, of the timber, ascertained for
economic uses. For ship-building the following six are most m use, the Molave
Vitex genicutala or V. pubescens, the Banaba, the Iacal, the Dongon a Sterculia, the
Mangachapiu Vateria mangachapoi, and the Quita-quita. Of the timber of these, large
skips have been built which are stated to have lasted 40 years, a fact which would place
them on a level with teak or oak, which would not be asserted of any of the woods
of the islands of the Malay Archipelago. The teak itself, it is singular, is found only
in the island of Mindano, at the distance of 1300 geographical miles from Java and
Sumbawa, the only two islands of the Malayan Archipelago, which yield it. I t glows
in Mindano, in such parts of that island as are in native occupation and is, conse-
quentlv, not available to European use. The Philippine forests yield several dye-
woods, the most valuable of which is the Sibucao of the natives, the sapang of the
Malays and our sapan-wood (Csesalpinia sappan). This is largely exported, and m the
foreign markets, is worth 50 per cent, more than the same article brought from Siam,
or in other words, yields half as much more colouring matter. The author of the
“ Informe sobre el estado de las Islas Filipinas, furnishes a list of 600 wild plants,
with names which have but a very small sprinkling of Malayan ones. Among these
are some yielding dyes, gums, resins, and textile materials, which like the Indian-
rubber and gutta-percha of the Malayan Archipelago, may be found of value m the
arts. I t seems not unlikely that in the southern portion of the Archipelago, even
these articles thetnselves may be found. . . . . - _
The zoology of the Philippines has received but little attention from European
naturalists. Among the larger mammalia, monkeys and deer of several species, and
at least one species of hog are ascertained to be natives of most of the islands from
Mindano to Luzon. The elephant, the rhinoceros, and the tapir of the Malayan
Archipelago, are all absent. Some Spanish writers have supposed that the elephant
once existed, because there is what they fancy to be a native name for it. This name,
which is variously written garya, gadia and gadya, is only a corruption of the Sanscrit
word gajah taken from the Malay or Javanese, so that the supposition in question is
much on a par with supposing that the same animal was within the historical era, a
native of Europe, because there are naturalised names for it, received very much after
the same manner. All the large animals of the feline family,'such as tigers and leopards,
z