The Mission to Siam, and Hué the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2. Finlayson George

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СКАЧАТЬ any soil exists, however scanty or however poor, and sometimes even where no soil is observable, they are not found, as might be expected, covered with a scanty, stunted, and impoverished vegetation; but everywhere planted with forests of the loftiest trees, forests in appearance scarce less ancient than the rugged soil on which they stand. The spectacle universally afforded among these islands, is in such respects equally beautiful, interesting, and curious. The singular form which many of the trees assume, is not the least remarkable feature in the varied phenomena displayed by the vegetable creation. I allude more particularly in the present instance to a remarkable and very obvious disposition in the roots and lower part of the stem of the larger trees, to form winged appendages of great magnitude. These tabular compressed appendages are generally three or four in number. They obviously serve as supports to the weighty incumbent mass of stem and leaves; thus compensating for the want of depth of soil, a few inches into which the roots can penetrate, before they are obstructed by the surface of rock, they are thus forced to extend horizontally. A tree of this description, torn up by its roots, affords a singular spectacle, and one in which the economy of vegetable life is peculiarly remarkable, inasmuch as this economy is obviously exerted in overcoming the difficulties which oppose its development. Every crevice in the rocky base, every chink, has been occupied by the root; a thin, but hardy net work extends along the ground, to a distance often equal to the noble altitude of the tree itself. The thin winged appendages to the tree, or its supporting walls, as they may justly be termed, partake more of the nature of root than of trunk, though altogether out of the earth. They possess generally a smooth, softish, and very thin cuticle, green underneath, abounding in the vegetable juices of the tree, and are remarkably hard. They sometimes extend horizontally, in a straight, but more commonly in a curved, direction, fifteen or twenty feet, their edges being six, eight, or more feet above the ground, gradually decreasing from the stem to the earth. In some instances they are formed into walls, resembling fortifications. Of this sort we saw a very fine specimen on this island.

      We had now passed from granite mountains to rocks of the secondary formation, detecting but few of the connecting media which usually accompany these formations, and give indications of the proximity of either the one series or the other. At Malacca we observed extensive beds of iron-shot clay. Here we discovered the masses which compose these islands to be formed of a series of rocks of a different description. Though at first sight they seemed to be of very various structure, a more close inspection shewed them to consist of two principal varieties, intimately associated, and often passing into each other. Of these the principal rock was a horn-stone or flinty slate, disposed in large masses or thick beds, of which perpendicular sections, twenty feet or more in depth, are occasionally exposed to view. The tabular masses are of great thickness, so as to render the stratification somewhat indistinct. They form an angle of nearly 40° with the horizon, and dip towards the east. The rock is extremely indurated, for the most part of a dark red colour, especially externally. It yields with the greatest difficulty to the hammer, but its edges are as brittle almost as glass, and fly into numerous minute splinters with sharp edges – fracture distinctly conchoidal, dull, and rather earthy. In many parts, it bears a near resemblance to flint, and readily emits fire when the hammer is applied to it. It is very uniform in its structure, presents no traces of imbedded minerals, or of organic remains. Is very extensive.

      The next rock is a porphyritic horn-stone, and splintery horn-stone. The most common substance imbedded in the former of these, is a white or grayish, or greenish granular limestone. It also contains rounded masses of flinty slate. On the surface it is often cellular, the limestone in its decomposition having dropped, or been washed out. The masses of limestone vary in dimensions from an inch to several feet square.

       January 20th.– Arrived at the new settlement of Singapore. The selection of this island, for the purpose of a commercial settlement, has been extremely happy. It is placed in the direct route from Bengal towards China, and the numerous islands in the eastern part of the Archipelago. It is from its situation calculated to become the centre of the trade carried on in the China Seas and neighbouring countries, the kingdoms of Cochin China, Siam, &c., as well as of that of the Malayan Peninsula, and the western parts of India. It affords a safe and convenient anchorage at all seasons of the year; while from its insular situation, and being surrounded on every hand by innumerable islands, it is alike exempted from the destructive typhoons so common in the China Seas, and the scarce less furious tempests that occur on the coasts of India. Here indeed the atmosphere throughout the whole circuit of the year is serene and placid, to a degree unknown perhaps in any other part of our globe. The smooth expanse of the seas is scarcely ruffled by the wind. We seem, as it were, to be coasting along the banks of a lake. Storms are here felt as it were by reflection. The commotion excited in the China Seas by the tempest, is propagated to this distance, where it is seen to give a peculiar direction and increased velocity to the tides, and even occasions a considerable swell. A similar but less remarkable effect is produced by a tempest in the Bay of Bengal. Subject to the opposite impulses derived from these extensive seas, the tides amongst the islands become extremely irregular. At times they are found to run in one direction for several days successively, with the effect, in embayed places, of raising the water to a considerable height. In the numerous narrow channels which divide the lesser islands, this tide runs with very great rapidity, resembling water issuing through a sluice. The regular and periodical influence of the monsoons is but little, if at all, felt in these islands, the winds partaking more of the nature of what have been called sea and land breezes. Hence proceeds that uniformity of temperature which prevails in the atmosphere throughout the year. Hence also proceeds the more frequent fall of showers, and the absence of a proper, continued, and periodical rainy season. Few days elapse without the occurrence of showers, which thus produce the most agreeable effect in reducing the temperature and cherishing vegetation. Without the continued influence of moisture, these regions would certainly exhibit a far less cheerful picture, and the climate prove much less congenial to the human frame. Heat in the equatorial regions is thus benignly attempered to the constitution of man. It will be found to prove infinitely less pernicious to his system than it does some distance beyond the tropics, particularly in dry and arid climates. It is thus that the hot and dry winds of Upper India, to the extent of more than ten degrees beyond the tropic, exert such powerful and destructive influence on organized beings, and more particularly on the human frame. Its effects are too well known to require description. Inanimate life is not merely at a stand; it is threatened with total destruction, and with difficulty preserves a scanty gleam of future existence. Animated beings retire to the thickest shades, and even there pant for existence. The loose frame and acclimated constitution of the native inhabitant, is not proof against its baneful influence. What then must be its influence on constitutions so highly susceptible of excitement as that of the inhabitant of the North of Europe? The fatality amongst European troops has given too ample testimony. The physiologist, who has not witnessed the effect of high temperature on the human system, will with difficulty believe it capable of extinguishing life, often within the period of a single hour from the commencement of excitement. Its effects are no less rapid than fearful to the spectator; the mind in such cases partaking of the general excitement in a degree amounting even to complete mania. Within the tropics such effects are of rare occurrence.

      The sandy shores of the ocean, offering a surface highly favourable for the developement of heat by reflection, will often be found of high and oppressive temperature during the day. Yet the temperature during the night is even here agreeable. Moderation, in point of temperature, is further attested by its benign effects on vegetable nature, which obtains a degree of developement unknown, perhaps, in any other part of the globe. We see trees encroaching even on the domain of the sea, their roots and branches covered with marine shells, as oysters, &c. The bare rocks, the stems of the smoothest trees, the most scanty portions of soil, are covered with an endless variety of plants. In point of adaptation, we observe situations equally favourable, and generally much more so, for the production of plants in most other parts of the globe. The single circumstance of a peculiarly modified temperature, would alone appear to be wanting. We are often at a loss to discover in what manner many of these vegetables derive nourishment, under circumstances, to appearance, so unfavourable. Moisture alone would seem to many to be their sole source of aliment; the elements of water being separated and assimilated by the organs of the plant. The quantity of simple СКАЧАТЬ