RAKAN, a river on the north-eastern coast of Sumatra, and the largest in the island, or rather it should be considered as an inlet of the sea. It has its rise in the interior, in the Rau country, and is navigable for sloops to a great distance from the sea. Vessels are deterred from entering it by the rapidity of the current, and by that peculiar swell known in the Ganges under the name of the "bore."
RAKE is a well-known instrument with teeth, by which the ground is divided. See AGRICULTURE.
Rake of a Ship is all that part of her hull which hangs over both ends of her keel. That which is before is called the fore-rake or rake forward, and that part which is at the setting on of the stern-post is called the rake-aft or afterward.