PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND, or PII'LO PINANG' (Betel Nut island), an important British possession, and one of the straits settlements (q v.), lies at the mouth of the strait of Malacca, near the w. coast of the Malay peninsula, in lat. 5° 16'-5° 30' n., and long. 100° 9'-100° 25' east. Length 1311 in.; breadth, 5 to 10 in.; area, 106 sq. miles. A belt of cocoa-nut and lofty areca palms runs along the coast. A slip of low land, interspersed with hills, stretches along the e. side of the island, where rice, pepper, betel, fruits, pro visions, etc.. are planted on the level parts; nutmeg and clove-trees on the heights. This district is watered by numerous streams, cut by well-kept roads, and dotted with villas and gardens. Sugar, coffee, and pepper plantations are on the s. and S.W. coasts; thence rises a wooded mountain ridge, which increases in elevation toward the n., where, at the sanitarium bungalows of Strawberry hill, it attains a height of 2,1,22 feet. The rocks are granite and mica Schist; the soil, a rich vegetable mold.
The climate of Prince of Wales island is healthy, a sea-breeze blowing every day, and rain falling during all the months of the year, except January and February. In the low lands, the thermometer ranges from 80° to 90°, and at Strawberry hill, from 62° to 75°, affording a pleasant change within a few miles of Georgetown. From the sanitarium, a splendid view is obtained of the plantations, town, shipping, and the lofty hills of Queda.
The products are timber, pepper, sugar, nutmegs, cloves, coffee, cocoa, and areca nuts, ginger, sweet potatoes, rice, etc.; and the pineapple, shaddock, plantain, banana, orange, lemon, mango, guava, etc., abound. The attempt to grow cotton has proved a failure.
Tin ore is found at the base of the mountains. The imports may be valued at about £1,600,000; the exports at £2,000,000. European and American manufactures, and a share of the produce of the eastern Archipelago, China, India, Siam, and Burmah, cater the emporium of Prince of Wales island on their way to suitable markets.
Georgetown, the capital, is situated at the n.e. extremity of the island, and is defended by fort Cornwallis. The governor's house and the hospital are at some dis tance from the town, which is the seat of government for the Eastern straits settlements, including Malacca and Singapore. On the peninsula opposite lies the province of Welles ley, a strip of country 35 m. in length by 4 to 11 m. in breadth. The population of Prince of Wales Wand, in 1871,was 61,797, and along with that of the province of Welles ley, 133,230; of whom the greater number are Malays, many are Chinese, 400 or 500 are Europeans and their descendants, the remainder being Siamese, Burmans, Beugalese, etc.
Toward the end of last century, a capt. F. Light married the daughter of the king of Queda, from whom he received the gift of Prince of Wales island; but in 1786 it was handed over to the East India company, who retained capt. Light as superintendent, and paid the king -$6,000 annually. By an arrangement to pay an additional $4,000 yearly, the province of Wellesley was afterward ceded to the company. Population rapidly increased, the forests were cleared for plantations, and a large trade sprang up. It has been nearly stationary for several years, except in Agriculture, owing to the more favorable situation of Singapore for the general commerce of these seas.