P ig eo n .
I s l a n d of
J u n k s e ilo n .
the other, and have fome flight outriggers. Thefe veflels go
either with a fail or paddle, and hold from nine to thirty
.men.
T h e Nicobar iflandsproduce the beautifuland Angular pigeon,
to which they give name ; the feathers on the head are purple,
thofeof the neck, long, narrow, and fliarp-pointed like the hac-
cle of a cock, and reflecting various glofles of purple, red, gold,
blue, and copper; the back a changeable green; the primaries
a fine blue ; the tail and its coverts white.
I n o w crofs from the greater or more fouthern Nicobar to the
ifland of Junkfeilon, about two hundred and fixty miles diftant.
It lies north-eaft o f the former, between Lat. 7° 30' and 8’ 24, is
o f a longform, the coaft extremely indented with ba-ys, and
very falient promontories ; the chief port is Popra, the T acola
emporium of Ptolemy. Hamilton *■ fays it produces good mails,
and that it has plenty o f tin ; about five hundred tons are ’annually
exported, according to the account given by Captain For-
rejl, who was there in 1784. The ifland, fubjeCt to Siam, is
governed by a viceroy and three affiftants,.and contains about
twelve thoufand inhabitants. The northern end is divided from
the continent by a channel not exceeding a mile in .breadth-.
Between the eaftern fide and the main land, is a great hay filled
with numbers of final! ifles, and in -the middle Pulo.Panjang,
-which, from north to fouth is, in length twenty-three miles t .
T he kingdom of lower Siam, bounds the northern and eailerii
fides of the b a y ; within the laft is comprehended the narrow
ifthmus o f the peninfula of Malacca, which does not exceed in
breadth fifty miles, .
* Vol. ii. 68. f Forjeft9 p. 30.
A t
; A t the termination of the kingdom o f Siam, begins the little -Kingdomof
i 1 1 . Q u e d a h .
monarchy of Sgtedah, a flat and fertile country, which extends
feveral leagues along the coaft. f t was once tributary to Siam,
but during a war the Siamefe were engaged in with Pegu, it revolted,
and is governed by a Malay Mahometan prince, as tyrannical
as he is poor; he refides in a town about fifty miles
from the fea, on a fmall navigable river; the mouth of which is in
Lat. 6" 10'. This river, according to Mannevillette, branches, pe-
ninfulates a great trait, and reverts to the fea, forming two diftant
entrances into the country; the interior land rifes to a great
heighth. The monarch never fails vifiting the European fhips
which enter the port, to extort from them fome prefent; the
religion o f the country is a mongrel Mahometanifm, mixed with
the native idolatry.
■ T h e little gjtedab turtle * is o f the fize o f a fparrow, and moft Turtle Doy-e.
delicious food; it has been tranfported to the Iile o f France,
where it has multiplied greatly.
' T h e northern end of the ifland o f Sumatra lies in Lat. 5* 5',
and immediately oppofite to old %uedab. That part of Sumatra
trends fail to the fouth-eaft till it reaches Cape Diamond, in Lat.
4° 50', which is the parallel of Pulo Dolom, an ifle clofe to the
fhore o f the peninfula o f Malacca. Here commences the Peri- Streightsof
SvI a l a c c a . mulicusJinusjor great ftreights of Malacca, bounded by Sumatra
on the weft, and the peninfula on the eaft. I ihall fcarcely mention
that noble ifland, till I begin with it as chief o f thofe of the
Indian Ocean.
T he next place o f note on the coaft, is a great trail o f flat
It
» Sonnerat, vol. ii. 177.
land,