which the Regulations had provided, thus enabling the states-general to control the revenue and expenditure of Netherlands India; in 1865 he reduced and in 1872 abolished the differentiation of customs dues in favour of goods imported from Holland, substituting a uniform import duty of 6% and establishing a number of free ports throughout the archipelago. The import duty was considered so moderate that an increase required for revenue purposes was readily conceded in 1886. In 1876 the practice of paying a yearly surplus (batig slot) from the revenues of Netherlands India to the treasury at the Hague was discontinued. The chief reforms in the land system were those introduced by De Waal, then minister for the colonies, in 1870. The cultivation of pepper, cochineal, cinnamon and indigo for the government had already ceased; De Waal restricted the area of the sugar plantations (carried on by forced native labour) as from 1878, and provided for their abolition after 1890. He also enabled natives to secure proprietary rights over the land they cultivated, and legalized the leasing of Crown forest-lands to Europeans.
The extension of Dutch political power—notably in Java, Sumatra, Celebes, the Moluccas, Borneo, the Sunda Islands and New Guinea—proceeded simultaneously with the reform movement, and from time to time involved war with various native states. A large expedition was sent to Lombok in 1894, and almost the whole of that island was incorporated in the Dutch dominions. The long and costly war with Achin (q.v.) began in 1873 and reached its climax in the military occupation of the country after 1905, when the native sultan surrendered and was deported. A guerrilla war was still carried on by his subjects, but their principal leader, the chief Panglima Polim, was captured in 1907; in 1908–1910 the condition of Achin under the military rule of General Swart was one of almost unbroken peace, and taxes were regularly paid. While the Dutch were thus consolidating their authority, other countries were acquiring new commercial or colonial interests in the archipelago. Immigration from China and Japan steadily increased, especially towards the end of the period 1816–1910. The enterprise of Sir James Brooke (q.v.) led, after 1838, to the establishment of British sovereignty in North Borneo; in 1895 New Guinea was divided between Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands; and the Spanish-American War of 1898 resulted in the cession of the Philippines, Sulu Island and the largest of the Mariana Islands to the United States, and the sale of the Caroline group to Germany. Australian and Japanese trade in the archipelago was stimulated by the establishment of the Australian Commonwealth (1901) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5). In 1910 the nations most directly interested in the future of the archipelago were the Netherlands, Great Britain, the United States, Germany, Japan, China and Portugal.
Bibliography.—For the period 1511–1595, the chief Portuguese authorities are the chronicles of Barros, Corrêa, Castanheda and Couto (see Portugal: History), with the letters of Xavier (q.v.), and the Tratado of A. Galvão (Lisbon, 1563 and 1731), of which a translation entitled Discoveries of the World was made for Richard Hakluyt and reprinted by the Hakluyt Society (London, 1862). See also M. F. de Navarette, Coleccion de los viages (vols. 4 and 5, Madrid, 1837). For later history see John Crawfurd, History of the Indian Archipelago (Edinburgh, 1820), which quotes from native as well as European records, and Twentieth-Century Impressions of Netherlands India (ed. A. Wright, London, 1910), which gives references to the principal English and Dutch authorities. Further bibliography will be found in J. A. van der Chijs, Proeve eener nederlandsch-indische Bibliografie, 1659–1870 (Batavia, 1875). (K. G. J.)
MALĀYIR, a small province of Persia, situated between Hamadan and Burujird. It has a population of about 70,000, and, together with the district Tusirkhan, pays a yearly revenue of about £13,000. It produces much corn and fruit; a great quantity of the latter, dried, is exported. Its capital and seat of government is Doletabad (Dowletabad), a thriving little city, with a population of about 5000, situated at an elevation of 5680 ft., 38 m. from Hamadan and 32 m. from Burujird. It has post and telegraph offices.
MALAY PENINSULA (called by the Malays Tanah Malayu, i.e. the Malay Land), a lozenge-shaped strip of land projecting into the China Sea, and forming the most southerly portion of the continent of Asia. Geographically, the peninsula begins at the isthmus of Kra, 10° N., at which point it is only between 60 and 70 m. in width, and the distance from sea to sea is further diminished by a large irregular salt-water inlet. Politically and anthropologically, however, this upper portion must be regarded as a continuation of the kingdom of Siam rather than as a section of Malaya. From the isthmus of Kra the peninsula extends south with a general inclination towards the east, the most southerly point being Tanjong Bulus in 1° 1612′ N. A line drawn diagonally down the centre from the isthmus of Kra to Cape Romania (Ramunya) gives the extreme length at about 750 miles. The breadth at the widest point, from Tanjong Pen-unjut in Trengganu to Tanjong Hantu in the Dindings territory, is about 200 m. The area is estimated at about 70,000 sq. m. The peninsula is bounded on the N. by Siam, on the S. by the island and strait of Singapore, on the E. by the China Sea, and on the W. by the Strait of Malacca.
Physical Characteristics.—A range of granite mountains forms a backbone which divides the peninsula into two unequal portions, the larger of which lies to the east and the smaller to the west of the chain. Smaller ranges run parallel to the main mountain chain in many places, and there are numerous isolated spurs which have no connexion with either. The country is covered with limestone in many parts, and large isolated bluffs of this formation stand up in the plains both on the eastern and the western slopes. The descent from the summits of the range into the plain is somewhat less abrupt on the western than it is on the eastern side, and between the foot of the mountains and the Strait of Malacca the largest known alluvial deposits of tin are situated. On the eastern side of the range, after a steep descent, the granite formation speedily gives place to slates of vast depth, intersected here and thereby fissures of quartz containing gold, and in many places covered by limestone which has been superimposed upon the slates. The highest known peak in the main range is that of Gunong Korbu, 7217 ft. above sea-level. The highest mountain is believed to be Gunong Tahan, which forms part of an isolated range on the eastern side, between Pahang and Kelantan, and is estimated at about 8000 ft. The west coast throughout its whole length is covered to a depth of some miles with mangrove swamps, with only a few isolated stretches of sandy beach, the dim foliage of the mangroves and the hideous mud flats presenting a depressing spectacle. On the east coast the force of the north-east monsoon, which beats upon the shores of the China Sea annually from November to February, has kept the land for the most part free from mangroves, and the sands, broken here and there by rocky headlands thickly wooded, and fringed by casuarina trees, stretch for miles without interruption. The islands on each coast present the features of the shore to which they are adjacent. On both the east and the west coast the islands are thickly wooded, but whereas the former are surrounded by beautiful sands and beaches, the latter are fringed by mangrove-swamps. The whole peninsula may be described as one vast forest, intersected in every direction by countless streams and rivers which together form the most lavish water-system in the world. Only an insignificant fraction of these forests has ever been visited by human beings, the Malays and even the aboriginal tribe having their homes on the banks of the rivers, and never, even when travelling from one part of the country to another, leaving the banks of a stream except for a short time when passing from one river-system to another. The bulk of the jungle, therefore, which lies between stream and stream, has never been trodden by the foot of man. The principal rivers on the west coast are the Perak, the Bernam and the Muar. The first-named is far finer than its fellows, and is navigable for steamers for about 40 m. from its mouth, and for native craft for over 250 m. It is exceedingly shallow, however, and is not of much importance as a waterway. The Bernam runs through flat swampy country for the greater part of its course, and steam-launches can penetrate to a distance of over 100 m. from its mouth, and it is therefore probably the deepest river. The country which it waters, however, is not of any value, and it is not much used. The Muar waters a very fertile valley, and is navigable for native boats for over 150 m. On the east coast the principal streams are the Petani, Telubin, Kelantan, Besut, Trengganu, Dungun, Kmamun, Kuantan, Pahang, Rompin, Endau and Sedeli, all guarded by difficult bars at their mouths, and dangerous during the continuance of the north-east monsoon. The deepest rivers are the Kuantan and Rompin; the largest are the Kelantan and the Pahang, both of which are navigable for native boats for a distance of over 250 m. The Trengganu river is obstructed by impassable rapids at a distance of about 30 m. from its mouth. The rivers on the east coast are practically the only highways, the Malays always travelling by boat in preference to walking, but they serve their purpose very indifferently, and their great beauty is their chief claim to distinction. Magnificent caves are found on both slopes of the peninsula, those at Batu in Selangor being the
