HORSEBACK TRAVEL OVER. 519 



tacking a kampong, as tlie houses of the natives are 

 mostly of bamboo, and if there is a fresh breeze and 

 one or two huts can be fired to Avindward, the vrhole 

 village will soon be in a blaze. Though this seems 

 to us a dastardly mode of warfare, the Pasumas are 

 justly famed for their high sense of honor, their 

 bitterest enemy being safe when he comes and intrusts 

 himself entirely to their protection. When the Dutch 

 troops arrived here, an official, who had frequently 

 been up into their country, volunteered to visit the 

 various kampongs and try to induce them to submit, 

 and in every place he was well received and all his 

 wants cared for, though none of the chiefs would, for 

 a moment, entertain his proposals. 



My journey on horseback was finished. The dis- 

 tance l)y the route taken from Bencoolen is about 

 one hundred and twenty paals, or one hundi^ed and 

 twelve miles, but I had travelled considerably farther 

 to particular localities that were off the direct route. 

 I had chanced to make the journey at just the 

 right time of year. The road is good enough for 

 padatis and to transport light artillery. For most 

 of the time a tall, rank grass fills the whole road ex- 

 cept a narrow footpath, but the government obliges 

 the natives living near this highway to cut off the 

 grass and repair the bridges once a year, and I chanced 

 to begin my journey just as most of this work was 

 finished. The l>ridges are generally made of bamboo, 

 and can therefore be used for only a short time after 

 they are repaired. Indeed, in many places, they are 

 frequently swept away altogether, and are not rebuilt 

 until the next year. From what I have already re- 



