- I Have Not Seen Very Much In My Two Days;
Indeed, I Doubt Whether There Is Much To See, In My Line At Least; Nor
Has The Island Any Interesting Associations As Malacca Has, Or Any
Mystery Of Unexplored Jungle As In Sungei Ujong And Selangor.
Pinang
came into our possession in 1786, through the enterprise of Mr. Light,
a merchant captain, who had acquired much useful local knowledge by
trading to Kedah and other Malay States.
The Indian Government desired
a commercial "emporium" and a naval station in the far east, and Mr.
Light recommended this island, then completely covered with forest, and
only inhabited by two migratory families of Malay fishermen, whose huts
were on the beach where this town now stands. In spite of romantic
stories of another kind, to which even a recent encyclopedia gives
currency, it seems that the Rajah of Kedah, to whom the island
belonged, did not bestow it on Mr. Light, but sold it to the British
Government for a stipulated payment of 2,000 pounds a year, which his
successor receives at this day.
It is little over thirteen miles long; and from five to ten broad. It
is a little smaller than the Isle of Wight, its area being one hundred
and seven square miles.
The roads are excellent. After one has got inside of the broad belt of
cocoa and areca palms which runs along the coast, one comes upon
beautiful and fertile country, partly level, and partly rolling, with
rocks of granite and mica-schist, and soil of a shallow but rich
vegetable mould, with abundance of streams and little cascades, dotted
all over with villas (very many of them Chinese) and gardens, and
planted with rice, pepper and fruits, while cloves and nutmegs, which
last have been long a failure, grow on the higher lands.
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