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Preanger

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a residency of the island of Java, Dutch East Indies, bounded S. by the Indian Ocean, W. by Bantam, N. by Batavia and Krawang, and N.E. and E. by Cheribon and Banyumas. It is officially termed the Preanger Regencies, of which there are five, covering the several administrative divisions. It also includes the small island of Nusa Were. The natives are Sudanese. The whole residency is mountainous, but there are two main parallel ranges of peaks along the northern boundary and through the middle. Among these are to be found a singularly large number of both active and inactive volcanoes, including the well-known Salak and Gede in the north, and bunched together at the eastern end the Chikorai, Papandayan, Wayang, Malabar, Guntur, &c., ranging from 6000 to 10,000 ft. in height. The rivers of the province belong to the basins of the Indian Ocean and the Java Sea respectively, the water-parting being formed by the western and eastern ends respectively of the northern and southern lines of mountain peaks. The two which drain the largest basin are the Chi Manuk and the Chi Tarum, both rising in the eastern end of the province and flowing northeast and north-west respectively to the Java Sea. The Chi Tandui, also rising here, flows south-east to the Indian Ocean, and alone of all the rivers in this province is navigable. Large stretches of marsh occur on each side of this river, as well as here and there among the hills where inland lakes formerly existed, as, for instance, near Bandung. Crater lakes are Telaga (lake) Budas, in the crater of the volcano of the same name in the south-east, and Telaga Warna, on the slopes of the Gede, famous for its beautiful tinting. On the same side of the Gede is the health resort of Sindanglaya (founded 1850-1860), with a mineral spring containing salt, and close by is the country residence of Chipanas, belonging to the governor-general.

Numerous warm springs are scattered about this volcanic region. Petroleum and coal have been worked, and there is a rich yield of chalk, while a good quality of bricks is made from the xxii. 9 a red clay. The soil is in general very fertile, the principal products being rice, maize and pulse (kachang) in the lower grounds, and cinchona, coffee and tea, as well as cocoa, tobacco and fibrous plants in the hills. The coffee cultivation has, however, considerably diminished. Forest culture, mat-making, weaving and fish-breeding are also practised, the last-named in the marshes after the rice harvest. The plantations are almost entirely owned by the government and Europeans, but the rice mills are in the hands of Chinese. Irrigation works have been carried out in various parts. The principal towns are Bandung, the capital of the residency, Sukabumi, Chianjar, Sumedang, Chichalengka, Garut, Tasik Malaya and Manon Jaya, all with the exception of Sumedang connected by railway.