Malay Peninsula

It was formerly the custom to speak of the Malay peninsula as unhealthy, and even to compare it with the west coast of Africa. It is now generally admitted that, though hot, it compares favour ably with Burma. The chief complaint which Europeans make is of the extreme humidity, which causes the heat to be more op pressive than where the air is dry. The thermometer, even at Singapore on the southern coast, which is the hottest portion of the peninsula, seldom rises above 93° in the shade, while the mean for the year at that place is generally below 80°. On the mainland, and especially on the eastern slope, the temperature is cooler, the thermometer falling at night below 70°. On an average day in this part of the peninsula the temperature in a European house ranges from 88° to 68°. The number of rainy days through out the peninsula varies from 16o to over 200 in each year. Vio lent gusts of wind, called "Sumatras," accompanied by a heavy downpour of short duration are common between the monsoons. The rainfall on the west coast varies from 64 to 115 in. per annum, and that of the east coast, where the north-east monsoon breaks with all its fury, is usually about 122 inches. To Europeans the climate is enervating, but if regular exercise is taken and ordinary precautions against chills are adopted, a European has as good a chance of remaining in sound health as in Europe. A change of climate, however, is necessary every f our or five years, and the children of Europeans should not be kept in the peninsula after they have attained the age of six or seven years. In parts of the country malaria is rife, but much has been done to combat the conditions that produce the malaria-carrying mosquito. The Malays formerly suffered severely from smallpox epidemics, but under British rule vaccination has been introduced, and the ravages of the disease no longer assume serious dimensions. Occa sional small outbreaks of cholera occur in a few localities. As a whole, the Malays are a remarkably healthy people, and deformity and hereditary diseases are rare. There is little leprosy, but there is a leper hospital near Penang on Pulau Jerjak and another at Pangkor for lepers from the Federated Malay States.

Flora and Fauna.

The soil of the peninsula is fertile. In the vast forests the decay of vegetable matter during countless ages has enriched the soil to the depth of many feet, and from it springs the most marvellous tangle of huge trees, shrubs, bushes, underwood, creepers, climbing plants and trailing vines, the whole hung with ferns, mosses, and parasitic growths, and bound to gether 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 a wood-knife, and even the wild beasts use well-worn game-tracks through the forest. In the interior brakes of bamboos are found, many of which spread for miles along the river banks. Some good hard-wood timber is found, the best being merbau, resak and chengal. Orchids abound. The principal fruit trees are the durian, mangosteen, custard-apple, pomegranate, rambu tan, pulasan, langsat, rambai, jack-fruit, coco-nut, areca-nut, sugar-palm, and banana. Coffee, sugar-cane, rice, pepper, gambier,

cotton and sago are grown with success. Rubber is the most im portant form of cultivation. The principal jungle products are gutta and rubber of several varieties, and many kinds of rattan. The mangrove grows on the shores of the west coast in profusion. Agilawood, the camphor tree, and ebony are found in small quantities.

The fauna of the peninsula is varied and no less profuse than the vegetable life. The Asiatic elephant ; the seladang, a bison of a larger type than the Indian gaur; two varieties of rhinoceros; the honey bear (bruang), the tapir, the sambhur (rusa) ; the speckled deer (kijang), two species of mouse-deer (napoh plandok or kanchil); the gibbon (ungka or wawa'), the siamang, another species of anthropoid ape, the crab-eating macaque (bra), the brok or coco-nut monkey, so called because it is trained by the Malays to gather nuts from the coco-nut trees, and four species of leaf-monkey (lotong) ; the bear-cat (arctictis binturong), the lemur; the Asiatic tiger, the black panther, the leopard, the clouded leopard, several varieties of jungle cat ; the wild boar, the wild dog; the flying squirrel, the flying fox; the python, the cobra, and many other varieties of snake, including the hama dryad ; the crocodile, the otter and the gavial, as well as many kinds of squirrel, rat, etc., are found throughout the jungles. On the east coast peafowl are found. The argus pheasant, the fire backed pheasant, the blue partridge, the adjutant-bird, several kinds of heron and crane, snipe, wood-pigeon, green-pigeon, swifts, swallows, pied-robins, hornbills, parakeets, fly-catchers, night jars, and many other kinds of bird are met with frequently. Mem bers of the duck tribe are rare : only the tree duck and cotton teal are likely to be met. The forests swarm with insects, from cicadae to beautiful butterflies, and from stick- and leaf-insects to endless varieties of ants. The scorpion and the centipede are com mon. The study of the insect life of the peninsula has only just commenced, and the profusion and variety of insects probably surpass those to be met with anywhere else in the world.

Political Divisions and Population.

The Malay Peninsula is divided into three sections: the colony of the Straits Settle ments, and the Federated and Unfederated Malay States. The colony of the Straits Settlements consists of the islands of Singa pore, Penang and the Dindings, the territory of Province Welles ley on the mainland opposite to Penang, the insignificant terri tory of the Dindings, and the town and territory of Malacca. The Federated Malay States under British protection consist of the sultanates of Perak, Selangor and the Negri Sembilan on the west coast, and the sultanate of Pahang on the east coast. The Unfederated States under British protection are Johore, Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah and Perlis. The population of the peninsula numbers about 3,500,00o, of whom about 900,000 inhabit the colony of the Straits Settlements, about 1,300,000 the Federated Malay States and about 1,15o,000 the Unfederated States.