The China Sea directory - Sabrizain.org

66 MALACCA STRAIT.—MALAY COAST. [chai-. i.
Communication.—There is a daily steamer between Penang and
Larut, and telegraph communication with other places in Wellesley pro-
vince. The principal export is tin; the imports are rice and other
necessaries for the miners, who are principally Chinese.
THAIPENG (Taipeng) is the seat of government of the state of
Perak, and also its largest and principal town. The houses are built of
brick, laid out in squares, with streets 70 feet wide, at the foot of the
Gunong Topei range, and 8 miles from port Weld. The assistant resi-
dent is. stationed here, and the residency is built on a hill overlooking the
town and mines. The principal buildings are the court-house and police
barracks, the latter accommodating over 800 police who are Sikhs. There
is a reading room and an hotel under European management. Water is
led from the mountains and through the town by pipes.
A railway connects Thaipeng with port Weld. The chief product is
tin from the mines in the district, principally worked by the Chinese.
Gold is found in some parts, but not in sufficient quantity to pay for
working.
Mountains.—Eastward and south-eastward of Thaipeng, and about
15 miles from the coast, mountains rise from the plains, the principal being
Gunong Topic and Gunong Bubo ; the former is near Thaipeng. Gunong
Higa (Higna), a mountain eastward of Gunong Topei, is about 4,000 feet
high, and is seen over the '
latter. Gunong Pondok, 1,800 feet high, a
sugarloaf shaped limestone mountain, appears in the pass between Topei
and Bubo ranges. It is seen only between the bearing of E. | S. and
E. by N. f N., or when ofE Larut river. Except in the rainy reason
(August to November) the summits are seldom visible.
' The COAST.—Between Larut river and Binding islands the three
principal streams are the Trong, Juru Mas, and Bruas, fronted by the mud
bank extending about 8 miles off shore. The Trong and Bruas are navi-
gable by canoes for 56 miles. The Juru Mas is merely a tidal estuary.
False Binding is formed by the two highest peaks of a short range
of hills near the coast northward of Pulo Dinding, and by a vessel
approaching from the northward are seen before Pulo Dinding, which
they much resemble.
Pulo Tallong is a small islet lying a quarter of a mile from the
coast near False Dinding, on the edge of a bight in the mud bank. West-
ward of Pulo Tallong the shore bank again extends seaward a distance of
4 miles, joining the shore 7 miles to the southward at Tanjong Hantu.
PULO PA]SrGKORorGREA,T DINDING ISLAND
is 6 miles long in a north and south direction, 2 miles broad, and
separated from the mainland by Dinding channel, from one to 2 miles
wide, and which affords secure anchorage for vessels of large draught.