The history of Sumatra : $b Containing an account of the government, laws, customs and manners of the native inhabitantsMarsden, William
History
The history of Sumatra : $b Containing an account of the government, laws, customs and manners of the native inhabitants
Marsden, William
Natural history -- Indonesia -- Sumatra; Sumatra (Indonesia)
Waterfalls and cascades are not uncommon, as may be supposed in a country
of so uneven a surface as that of the western coast. A remarkable one
descends from the north side of Mount Pugong. The island of Mansalar,
lying off and affording shelter to the bay of Tappanuli, presents to the
view a fall of very striking appearance, the reservoir of which the
natives assert (in their fondness for the marvellous) to be a huge shell
of the species called kima (Chama gigas) found in great quantities in
that bay, as well as at New Guinea and other parts of the east.* At the
bottom of this fall ships occasionally take in their water without being
under the necessity of landing their casks; but such attempts are liable
to extreme hazard. A ship from England (the Elgin) attracted by the
appearance from sea of a small but beautiful cascade descending
perpendicularly from the steep cliff, that, like an immense rampart,
lines the seashore near Manna, sent a boat in order to procure fresh
water; but she was lost in the surf, and the crew drowned.
(*Footnote. The largest I have seen was brought from Tappanuli by Mr.
James Moore of Arno's Vale in the north of Ireland. It is 3 feet 3 1/2
inches in its longest diameter, and 2 feet 1 1/4 inches across. One of
the methods of taking them in deep water is by thrusting a long bamboo
between the valves as they lie open, when, by the immediate closure which
follows, they are made fast. The substance of the shell is perfectly
white, several inches thick, is worked by the natives into arm-rings, and
in the hands of our artists is found to take a polish equal to the finest
statuary marble.)
RIVERS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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