ch. in.] Wild Animals. 41 



Rafflesiaiia, an allied species, we saw clambering up the 

 thick undergrowth to a height of twenty or thirty feet, 

 but the pitchers were not larger than ordinarily are pro- 

 duced by the plant when grown in our hothouses at home. 

 A large branching species of gleichenia grows luxuriantly 

 near the top of this mountain, and seems to replace 

 G. dichotoma, which is so common in Singapore and Pulo 

 Penang. Orchids were sparingly represented by a ccelo- 

 gyne, and one or two other genera, but nothing of interest 

 was observable. A form of our own Pteris aquilina grew 

 luxuriantly around the hut where the forest had been 

 cleared. A dracsena, with green undulate foliage, almost 

 grassy in its tenuity, and the variegated Cissus porphyro- 

 pJtyllus were plentiful, and a red-veined echites covered 

 mossy trunks beside the stream. 



We returned from our collecting about 5 o'clock, tired 

 and wet through — a very common thing indeed in a 

 tropical forest, so that we were glad to strip to the skin 

 and have a bath, followed by a rub dry with coarse towels, 

 and dry clothes. Our dinner of tinned soup and boiled 

 beef was very acceptable, and our cook made a very appe- 

 tising curry of dried fish and a few chilies collected from 

 bushes which grew in the clearing around our hut, 

 seeds having been sown either designedly or accidentally 

 by former visitors. A cup of tea and a cigar were deli- 

 ciously soothing after the rough falls and scrambling of 

 the day. We were disappointed with the place as a col- 

 lecting ground, and resolved to return to the richer forest 

 of the lower slopes near Kanka Ah Tong on the morrow. 

 Our guides gave us an account of this mountain, and 

 assured us that tigers were not uncommon, and that the 

 Chinamen were frequently carried off by them when 

 working in clearings near the forest. Wild pigs, monkeys, 

 and deer, are plentiful. The Argus and fire-back pheasant 



