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MALAY PENINSULA
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See also:MALAY See also:PENINSULA (called by the See also:Malays Tanah Malayu, i.e. the Malay See also:Land), a See also:lozenge-shaped See also:strip of land projectinginto the See also:China See also:Sea, and forming the most southerly portion of the See also:continent of See also:Asia. Geographically, the peninsula begins at the See also:isthmus of Kra, ro° N., at which point it is only between 6o and 70 M. in width, and the distance from sea to sea is further diminished by a large irregular See also:salt-See also:water inlet. Politically and anthropologically, however, this upper portion must be regarded as a continuation of the See also:kingdom of See also:Siam rather than as a See also:section of Malaya. From the isthmus of Kra the peninsula extends See also:south with a See also:general inclination towards the See also:east, the most southerly point being Tanjong Bulus in 1° 162' N. A See also:line See also:drawn diagonally down the centre from the isthmus of Kra to Cape Romania (Ramunya) gives the extreme length at about 750 See also:miles. The breadth at the widest point, from Tanjong See also:Pen-unjut in See also:Trengganu to Tanjong Hantu in the Dindings territory, is about 200 M. The See also:area is estimated at about 70,000 sq. m. The peninsula is bounded on the N. by Siam, on the S. by the See also:island and strait of See also:Singapore, on the E. by the China Sea, and on the W. by the Strait of Malacca. See also:Physical Characteristics.—A range of See also:granite mountains forms a backbone which divides the peninsula into two unequal portions, the larger of which lies to the east and the smaller to the See also:west of the See also:chain. Smaller ranges run parallel to the See also:main See also:mountain chain in many places, and there are numerous isolated spurs which have no connexion with either. The See also:country is covered with See also:limestone in many parts, and large isolated bluffs of this formation stand up in the plains both on the eastern and the western slopes. The descent from the summits of the range into the See also:plain is somewhat less abrupt on the western than it is on the eastern See also:side, and between the See also:foot of the mountains and the Strait of Malacca the largest known alluvial deposits of See also:tin are situated. On the eastern side of the range, after a steep descent, the granite formation speedily gives See also:place to slates of vast See also:depth, intersected here and there by fissures of See also:quartz containing See also:gold, and in many places covered by limestone which has been superimposed upon the slates. The highest known See also:peak in the main range is that of Gunong Korbu, 7217 ft. above sea-level. The highest mountain is believed to be Gunong Tahan, which forms See also:part of an isolated range on the eastern side, between Pahang and See also:Kelantan, and is estimated at about 800o ft. The west See also:coast throughout its whole length is covered to a depth of some miles with See also:mangrove swamps, with only a few isolated stretches of sandy See also:beach, the dim foliage of the mangroves and the hideous mud flats presenting a depressing spectacle. On the east coast the force of the See also:north-east See also:monsoon, which beats upon the shores of the China Sea annually from See also:November to See also:February, has kept the land for the most part See also:free from mangroves, and the sands, broken here and there by rocky headlands thickly wooded, and fringed by See also:casuarina trees, stretch for miles without interruption. The islands on each coast See also:present the features of the See also:shore to which they are adjacent. On both the east and the west coast the islands are thickly wooded, but whereas the former are surrounded by beautiful sands and beaches, the latter are fringed by mangrove-swamps. The whole peninsula may be described as one vast See also:forest, intersected in every direction by countless streams and See also:rivers which together See also:form the most lavish water-See also:system in the See also:world. Only an insignificant fraction of these forests has ever been visited by human beings, the Malays and even the aboriginal tribe having their homes on the See also:banks of the rivers, and never, even when travel-See also:ling from one part of the country to another, leaving the banks of a stream except for a See also:short See also:time when passing from one See also:river-system to another. The bulk of the See also:jungle, therefore, which lies between stream and stream, has never been trodden by the foot of See also:man. The See also:principal rivers on the west coast are the See also:Perak, the Bernam and the Muar. The first-named is far finer than its See also:fellows, and is navigable for steamers for about 40 M. from its mouth, and for native See also:craft for over 250 M. It is exceedingly shallow, however, and is not of much importance as a waterway. The Bernam runs through See also:flat swampy country for the greater part of its course, and See also:steam-launches can penetrate to a distance of over too m. from its mouth, and it is therefore probably the deepest river. The country which it See also:waters, however, is not of any value, and it is not much used. The Muar waters a very fertile valley, and is navigable fOr native boats for over 150 M. On the east coast the principal streams are the Petani, Telubin, Kelantan, Besut, Trengganu, Dungun, Kmamun, Kuantan, Pahang, Rompin, Endau and Sedeli, all guarded by difficult bars at their mouths, and dangerous during the continuance of the north-east monsoon. The deepest rivers are the Kuantan and Rompin; the largest are the Kelantan and the Pahang, both of which are navigable for native boats for a distance of over 250 M. The Trengganu river is obstructed by impassable rapids at a distance of about 30 M. from its mouth. The rivers on the east coast are practically the only highways, the Malays always travelling by See also:boat in preference to walking, but they serve their purpose very indifferently, and their See also:great beauty is their See also:chief claim to distinction. Magnificent caves are found on both slopes of the peninsula, those at See also:Batu in See also:Selangor being the finest on the west coast, while those of Chadu and Koto Glanggi in Pahang are the most extensive yet visited by Europeans on the east coast. They are all of limestone formation. So far as is known, the Malay Peninsula consists of an axial See also:zone of crystalline rocks, flanked on each side by an incomplete See also:band of sedimentary deposits. Granite is the most widely spread of the crystalline rocks; but dikes of various kinds occur, and See also:gneiss, schist and See also:marble are also met with. These rocks form the greater part of the central range, and they are often—especially the'granite—decomposed and rotten to a considerable depth. The sedimentary deposits include See also:slate, limestone and See also:sandstone. Impure See also:coal has also been recorded. The limestone has yielded Proetus, Chonetes and other fossils, and is believed to be of Carboniferous See also:age. In the sandstone Myophoria and other Triassic fossils have been found, and it appears to belong to the See also:Rhaetic or Upper Trias.1 The minerals produced are tin, gold, See also:iron, See also:galena and others, in insignificant quantities. The tin occurs in the form of cassiterite, and is found chiefly in or near the crystalline rocks, especially the granite. As stream tin it occurs abundantly in some of the alluvial deposits derived from the crystalline area, especially on the west coast. Only two tin lodes are worked, however, and both are situated on the east coast, the one at Kuantan in Pahang, the other at Bandi in Trengganu territory. On the west coast no true lode has yet been discovered, though the vast alluvial deposits of tin found there seem to make such a See also:discovery probable in the future. Since 1890 the tin produced from these alluvial beds has supplied between 50% and 75% of the tin of the world. Gold is worked with success in Pahang, and has been exploited from time immemorial by the natives of that See also:state and of Kelantan. Small quantities have also been found on the western slope in Perak. See also:Climate, &c.—It was formerly the See also:custom to speak of the Malay Peninsula as an unhealthy climate, and even to compare it with the west coast of See also:Africa. It is now generally admitted, however, that, though hot, it compares favourably with that of See also:Burma. The chief complaint which Europeans make concerning it is the extreme humidity, which causes the See also:heat to be more oppressive than is the See also:case where the See also:air is dry. On the other See also:hand, the thermometer, even at Singapore on the See also:southern coast, which is the hottest portion of the peninsula, seldom rises above 98° in the shade, whereas the mean for the See also:year at that place is generally below 80°. On the main-land, and more especially on the eastern slope, the temperature is cooler, the thermometer seldom rising above 93° in the shade, and'falling at See also:night below 70°. On an See also:average See also:day in this part of the peninsula the temperature in a See also:European See also:house ranged from 88° to 68°. The number of See also:rainy days throughout the peninsula varies from 16o to over 200 in each year, but violent gusts of See also:wind, called " Sumatras," accompanied by a heavy downpour of short duration, are more See also:common than persistent See also:rain. The rainfall on the west coast varies from 75 to 120 in. per annum, and that of the east coast, where the north-east monsoon breaks with all its fury, is usually about 155 in. per annum. Malarial fevers make their See also:appearance in places where the forest has been recently felled, or where the See also:surface See also:earth has been disturbed. It is noticed that labourers employed in deep mines worked by shafts suffer less from See also:fever than do those who are engaged in stripping the alluvial deposits. This, of course, means that a new station, where clearing, digging, and See also:building are in progress, is often unhealthy for a time, and to this must be attributed the evil reputation which the peninsula formerly enjoyed. To Europeans the climate is found to be relaxing and enervating, but if, in spite of some disinclination for exertion, See also:regular exercise is taken from the beginning, and See also:ordinary precautions against chills, more especially to the See also:stomach, are adopted, a European has almost as See also:good a See also:chance of remaining in good See also:health in the peninsula as in See also:Europe. A See also:change of climate, however, is imperatively necessary every five or six years, and the See also:children of European parents should not be kept in the peninsula after they have attained the age of four or five years. The See also:Chinese immigrants suffer chiefly from fever of a malarial type, from beri-beri, a See also:species of tropical See also:dropsy, and from See also:dysentery. The Malays formerly suffered severely from small-pox epidemics, but in the portion of the peninsula under See also:British See also:rule See also:vaccination has been introduced, and the ravages of the disease no longer assume serious dimensions. Occasional outbreaks of See also:cholera occur from time to time, and in the See also:independent states these cause terrible loss of See also:life, as the natives See also:fly from the disease and spread the infection in every direction. As a whole, the Malays are, however, a remarkably healthy See also:people, and deformity and hereditary diseases are rare among them. There is little leprosy in the peninsula, but there is a leper See also:hospital near See also:Penang on Pula Deraja and another on an island on the west coast for the reception of lepers from the Federated Malay States. See also:Flora and See also:Fauna.—The See also:soil of the peninsula is remarkably fertile both in the plains and on the mountain slopes. In the vast forests the decay of See also:vegetable See also:matter during countless ages has enriched 1 See R. B. See also:Newton, " Notes on Literature bearing upon the See also:Geology of the Malay Peninsula; with an See also:Account of a See also:Neolithic See also:Implement from that Country " (Geol. Mag., 1901, pp. 128-134). See also the various reports by J. B. Scrivenor in Suppl. Perak Goo. See also:Gazette, 1905,the soil to the depth of many feet, and from it springs the most marvellous tangle of huge trees, shrubs, bushes, underwood, creepers, climbing See also:plants and trailing vines, the whole hung with ferns, mosses, and parasitic growths, and See also:bound together by rattans and huge rope-like trailers. In most places the jungle is so dense that it is impossible to force a way through it without the aid of a See also:wood-See also:knife, and even the See also:wild beasts use well-worn See also:game-tracks through the forest. In the interior brakes of bamboos are found, many of which spread for miles along the river banks. Good hard-wood See also:timber is found in plenty, the best being the merabau, penak, rasok and chengal. See also:Orchids of countless varieties abound. The principal See also:fruit trees are the duri-an, See also:mangosteen, custard-See also:apple, See also:pomegranate, rambut-an, pulas-an, langsat, rambai„See also:jack-fruit, coco-See also:nut, areca-nut, See also:sugar-See also:palm, and See also:banana. See also:Coffee, See also:tobacco, sugar-See also:cane, See also:rice, See also:pepper, See also:gambier, See also:cotton and See also:sago are cultivated with success. Great developments have been made of See also:recent years in the cultivation of See also:rubber in British Malaya. The principal jungle products are See also:gutta and rubber of several varieties, and many kinds of rattan. The man-See also: The Federated Malay States under British protection consist of the sultanates of Perak, Selangor and the'See also:Negri Sambilan on the west coast, and the sultanate of Pahang on the east coast. Johor is the only Malay state in the southern portion of the peninsula, the whole of which is within the British sphere, which has been suffered to remain under native rule. The non-federated states under British protection (since 1909) are Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah and Perlis (Palit). The population of the peninsula numbers about 2,000,000, of whom about 600,000 inhabit the colony of the Straits Settlements, about goo,000 the Federated Malay States, about 200,000 the Malay State of Johor, and about 250,000 to 300,000 the See also:remainder of the peninsula. The population of the peninsula includes about 850,000 Chinese, mostly immigrants or descendants of immigrants from the southern provinces of China, of whom about 300,000 reside in the colony of the Straits Settlements, 365,000 in the Federated Malay States, 15o,000 in Johor, and the remainder in smaller communities or as isolated traders scattered throughout the villages and small towns of the peninsula. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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