h. in.] On the Way. 33 



several miles of wooden tramways were actually laid 

 down, but the work is now suspended. Were such a 

 roadway completed, it would do much to open up a 

 fertile country especially rich in fine timber, rattans, and 

 other jungle produce. The culture of gambier (Uncaria 

 Gambir, Roxb.), pepper and other products now cultivated 

 by the Chinese settlers would also be facilitated. As it 

 is, the timber is cut as near to the streams as is possible, 

 and is then dragged by buffaloes through the jungle and 

 floated down to the town, several logs being lashed 

 together so as to form rafts, on which a man stands to 

 steer it clear of snags and other obstacles. 



Gambling is one of the curses of this place, and is 

 publicly carried on in some large buildings near the saw- 

 mills. As the Maharajah derives a percentage from the 

 tables, gambling is not likely to be suppressed here, as it 

 has been at Singapore. Mr. Boultbee's house, where we 

 stayed, is a large and comfortable one of wood, and it 

 stands on an eminence at the north-east end of the 

 town. From the verandah a beautiful view of the old 

 strait is obtained, reminding one of Windermere, only 

 that the vegetation is more luxuriant, brightened as it is 

 by a tropic sun. We walked in the garden and forest 

 behind at sunrise, when every flower and leaf was bathed 

 in dew, and were much pleased with the vegetation. 

 The elk's-horn fern (Platyccrium biforme) grew on the 

 stems of several of the trees, and we saw it high up in 

 the branches of the forest trees behind the house. Ne- 

 penthes ampullaria, and the noblest of all ferns, Dipteris 

 Horsfieldii, were also abundant in the jungle quite close 

 to the sea-beach, and tall gleichenias clambered up the 

 bushes to a height of at least twenty feet. 



Birds and butterflies were alike plentiful in the jungle, 

 and some of the latter were very gorgeous in colour. 



D 



