114 HUMAN TREE-DWELLERS 



our average, which fell to two in the hilly country, 

 and in the mountains I doubt if we made over 

 one mile an hour. Each elephant carried six to 

 seven hundred pounds on fair roads, as a good 

 load, which was reduced to four hundred pounds 

 when they began climbing. 



I was without an interpreter. The one I had 

 engaged for the trip died of cholera before we got 

 beyond the settlement, and as the rainy season is 

 the most unhealthful period for a venture into the 

 jungle, I was unable to replace him. My Tamil 

 servant knew a few English words— knew them so 

 imperfectly as to put to confusion every attempt 

 at mutual understanding. 



After the first couple of days winding into the 

 hills past tin mines, the most valued deposit in 

 the State, our trail through Perak led across 

 swamps, over mountains, and up and down valleys 

 —and always in mud— sometimes up to knees, 

 always over ankles. Once we had got deep into 

 the jungle, a view ahead was never possible, even 

 on top of the mountains, because of the density of 

 the great forest. And such a dismal jungle ! Not 

 even a bird note; not a sound of any kind, save 

 that made by the squashing of our own feet in the 

 oozy going. 



The interior of Malay is covered with a primeval 

 forest of upstanding trees, limbless to their very 



