BETEL 52 BEZOAR
between the mountains Klut and WiHs the fl^ t b * ^nA gh the gap formed
between 8000 and 9000 feet hfoh TW L +v betwe®“ 5l000 and 6000, and the last
double what it is where the * j CaS6 S breadtb of the island being
from sea to sea, and X S f i T a of P? Vf i tbe 0UITent d°88 not reach
mountain Arjuna. Surabaya is protected from it by the mass of the
l l S f f r S c e n ^ o f 18« ffet h ^ WaS 967’ a n d ite * W > n
extraordinary increase of population for a rp^ S*1 ° ? years was reliable, showed an
502,087, S h S S S L b X l n short2? 30 years; for it had risen to
ants, 530; Chinese and their descendants 1 o7<f °ws~ Eu‘'°Pean3 and their deseend-
their descendants, 3078 : and natives nf Ta™ ’j na,tlves of Celebes with
gives a relative population of little more Tbe total number
above a third or even a fourth of t L T Z ' r 121 lnbablta°ts to a square mile, not
island. In 1850 the noDuktion « ^ T a 7 f f T of the central Provinces of the
decline, but t0 !howin/ a aH>Uat
inhabitants. The teak forests of w t - f OIXi ll: 0 a district containing 30,634
enumeration made ^ 1 8 4 5 the n L w ^ t f £ , 45 Sqaaxe leagues> a“ d aa
of horses 50,000. I t contains tZTsmall nattle was found to be 147,000 and
and Prabalinga, a more considerable suJ!;le> the seat of administration,
population is not stated. rivmg place, but the amount of their
t e m p l e t J a b o ^ ^ h f c h ^ ^ u T r ^ d 18™ b t ° f th!t® the most remarkable is the
linga, about 20 miles from each and ¿ woe“ the towas of Besukie and Prabais
of a quadrangular fo™ Z h ret; • mile,from tbe 8ea- The base of the building
form it preserves for half S heivbTwt“^ 68’ .Slde measuring 32 feet. This
rounded shape. The structure Jt assumes a
the thresholds and lintels which are of ifpwu tl i u t bricks, with the exception of
of Java it shows that the” outside v, trachyte. Like other similar buildings
flowers and figures of men and animals TB — f * * plaater ornamented with
nor is there a ^ a te o r anyother “ Ition u Z ’ I P * * “ 110 ima^
dedicated to the worshio of sILs or ef i,“ ' probably, however, the temple was
than the ^ t h centarv It “ " I 2 S i C°M°r t ? urga’ and that « i» not older
tta* It h u earthquakes of “ Wi“ 1* P' " "
establishment These o ’• + t 8 of what appears to have been once a religious
but bellv out h^lnw TTwf n xir ^ bave a mouth of about a foot wide,
S 2Q * s i
^ e ]aTappei™ge ^ 0toaVhaveeen ‘ “ d 88 no such manufacture
imported either from China or Japan “ ^ Probability is that they were
s * a j s s a * z n t t t t s s g s t t g z t 3
ih e^ ehople1wof,Bali' wlio.laidclaim that the Madurese emigrating frotmo t bthee i*r o^w^/co*mp£ar¡ati2vel?y pooi b u f n o n uC s
country crossed over and began to occupy the rich but deswted lands of t a i »
process that has been going on ever since, and which will in a good measure account
t w e ra°F mar7 increase of population which has taken place within the last
thirty years, the majority of the inhabitants being Madurese and not jTvanese
BETEL. See Abeca and P eppee.
BEZOAR. Bezoar stones, still believed among the nations of Asia, as thev once
were among those of Europe, to possess the virtue of expelling poisons continue to
article of trade. They are mostly brought from Borneo, where they are reputed
to be obtained from the stomach and intestines of monkeys. In Malay, they go under
the names of goliga, mantika, and matika; the two last words being probably
corruptions of m&stika, “ a gem.”
BILA. The name of a considerable river on the north-eastern side of Sumatra,
forming the eastern limit of the country of the Batak nation, and nearly the
only place on that coast where this people have direct communication with the sea.
The river consists of two branches, which unite shortly before the disemboguement,
in latitude 3° 28' north.
BILLITON; in Malay, BLITTING. This island, of which the peak or highest
land is in south latitude 3° 13' and east longitude 108° 7', is computed to have an
area of 1904 square geographical miles; and is, therefore, better than one-half the
size of Banca. Its geological formation is the same as that of this island; and by
all accounts it is equally productive in iron and tin ore. The first of these has been
long worked by the natives; and the last, of late years, by a Dutch association.
Billiton is the extreme southern limit of the tin formation, and reckoning only from
Tavoy, on the coast of Tenasserim, it extends over 20° of latitude, and is, therefore,
incomparably the greatest in the world. The only inhabitants of Billiton, until
occupied by the Dutch, were the Malay fishermen, called Orang-lant, or Men of the
Sea; here, and at Banca, called Sika, a word the literal sense of which I have not
ascertained.
BIMA. The name of one of six principalities of the large island of Sumabawa,
and forming its eastern end. To this state belong also some islands in the Straits of
Sapi, or those which divide Sumbawa from Floris; the portion of the latter island
called Mangarai; and the island of Gunung-api, conspicuous by its active volcano.
The territory is indented by a very deep inlet, known as the Bay of Bima, at the
head of which is a small town with a Dutch fort. The entrance of this bay is in
south latitude 8° 26', and east longitude 118° 38'. The people of Bima speak a
peculiar tongue, one of the several languages of Sumbawa; and they write it in
the character of Celebes, although they had once a native alphabet now obsolete. In
manners and character they bear the nearest resemblance to the more civilised
nations of Celebes, but they are less energetic. The total population has been computed
at 90,000. The products of Bima are sapan and sandal woods, bees’-wax, and
horses. The horses are considered, although small, to be the handsomest and best
bred of the Archipelago, and are largely exported to Java. The most esteemed of
them are those of the island of Gunung-api. See Stjmbawa.
BINONDO. A suburb of the city of Manilla, on the right bank of the river
Pasig, and communicating with the walled town by a stone bridge 149 Spanish yards,
or 411 English feet in length, the most remarkable European structure ever erected
in the Philippine or Malayan Archipelagos. The number of houses in this suburb
in 1849 was 4853, most of them native dwellings, of frail materials. The population
in the same year was 29,211, of whom 4817 were subject to the capitation-tax, of
which the gross produce was 48,170 reals of plate.
BINTANG, correctly BENT AN. The name is said to be taken from the highest
hill of the island. Bintang is the largest of the crowd of islandB lying between the
peninsula and Sumatra at the eastern extremity of the Straits of Malacca, and has
an area of 336 square geographical miles. Its geological formation is similar to that
of the peninsula and Singapore. A mountainous chain runs through it, the highest
summit of which is 1368 feet above the level of the sea. Bintang is drained by five
rivers, navigable only for small boats. On its western side there is a wide bay
studded with islands, on one of which, called Tanjung Pinang, literally “ Areea promontory,”
divided from the main by a very narrow strait, stands the Netherland
settlement of Khio, in north latitude 54° 40', and east longitude 124° 26' 30". Bintang,
in so far as the production of com is concerned, is, like Singapore, unfertile.
But both soil and climate seem eminently well suited to the production of black
pepper, and the nauclea gambir, the inspissated juice of which is the gambir of
commerce so largely used in the East as a masticatory, and of late in Europe for
dyeing and tanning. Bintang and the neighbouring islands are the principal places
of the production of gambir.
Bintang and all the other islands south of the Straits of Singapore are nominally
subject to the Sultan of Jehor, but substantially ruled by the Dutch. The native
chief is the lineal descendant of the princes who ruled first in Singapore, and afterwards
in Malacca; and who, after being driven from the latter by the Portuguese in