OF KELANTAN 137 



meant well enough by me, and talked large and 

 vaguely of game in the mountains, but knew noth- 

 ing by experience. One fine sportsman-like chap 

 liad killed several tigers and had no interest in 

 anything else. The fact is, the country I sought 

 to enter was almost entirely a closed book to the 

 handful of town-living Englishmen; and the na- 

 tives hunt only by necessity. However, this is all 

 part of the enjoyment of the great game of wilder- 

 ness hunting. 



Hence, despite several failures that had attended 

 previous hunting in the Peninsula, I found myself 

 preparing for another try at Kuala Muda, a little 

 kampong (settlement) on the upper waters of the 

 Perak, which I had reached from Penang via 

 Taiping by gharry* and bridle path and canoe. 

 Like most kampongs, Kuala Muda was substan- 

 tially a collection of attap-covered bamboo houses 

 of one room each with wide covered veranda, 

 standing about six feet above ground, on or near 

 the water, and supporting a mingled population 

 of Malays, Tamils, Klingsf and Chinese, living 

 together in the peaceful pursuit of their vocations 

 without interference ; for the divisions of labor in 

 the Peninsula appear to be thoroughly understood 

 and accepted. 



*A one-horse two-wheel cart commonly used for road travel 

 in the Peninsula. 



t Tamils and KLings, natives of India. 



