ON NATURAL HISTORY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF MALAY PENINSULA. 397 



ascend some of the high crags in the vicinity of the mountain, and thus 

 ascertain its locality, but at the end of the first week's march, finding that 

 we were on what appeared to be a spur of the main range, I decided to 

 go forward and ascend it as far as circumstances would permit. We 

 therefore climbed the range peak by peak, but were at length stopped by 

 a formidable subsidence or break, which forced us to return on our tracks 

 for a day's march before we could circumvent it. Eventually, after a 

 march of about eleven days since our entry into the river, we reached the 

 highest point that we could compass, about 200 feet to 300 feet below the 

 peak, when we were stopped by an overhanging wall of rock which, after 

 several attempts, we found ourselves unable to scale or circumvent. We 

 got sight, however, here of a hitherto unrecorded companion peak to the 

 Tahan Peak, which was identified as Gunong Larong, or ' Coffin Moun- 

 tain.' At this time we had barely enough rice even on short rations to 

 last three days, and the descent, till we reached the nearest human habita- 

 tion, took five. Our difficulties were further increased by fog, rain, and 

 fever. 



The rains were exceptionally heavy, the Tahan river being three times 

 ill flood during our ascent of the mountain, and as they had set in earlier 

 than usual, it appeared, under the circumstances, unadvisable and unsafe 

 to commit the rest of the expedition to the ascent of the mountain. 



Mr. Annandale therefore, who had been waiting at Kuala Aring ^vith 

 a view to participating in the ascent of the mountain, if practicable, 

 returned to Europe, and Mr. Evans remained in camp with Mr. Yapp, who 

 had arrived during my absence. Mr. Laidlaw accompanied me up the Aring 

 river, and there took photographs and full measurements of several persons 

 belonging to the wild tribes, w^hile a good deal of information about their 

 manners and customs, as well as a vocabulary of nearly 600 words, was 

 collected by myself. 



On our return, we all descended the Lebih on rafts, as far as its 

 juncture with the Kelantan river, and thence descended the latter as far 

 as Kota Bharu, the capital of the important East Coast State of Kelantan, 

 and the seat of its Raja. 



On the way down the river we measured and photographed several 

 more Sakeis. At Kota Bharu Messrs. Laidlaw and I stayed for about a 

 month, Messrs. Yapp and Evans proceeding to Trengganu, in order to pay 

 a short visit to the coral islands off that coast. 



Much important ethnological work was done at Kota Bharu. Investi- 

 gations were conducted into Malay methods of industry, and a devil- 

 dancing performance was witnessed by jNIi". Laidlaw and myself, at which 

 the name of the winning bull at a coming bull- fight was correctly pro- 

 phesied. Full anthropological measurements were taken by Mr. Laidlaw 

 of ten or twelve Kelantan Malays, notes made of the colour of their skin, 

 eyes, hair, (fee, and experiments made as to their colour vision. 



On leaving Kota Bharu we proceeded to Trengganu, where we met 

 Messrs. Evans and Yapp, who reported having had a narrow escape from 

 drowning off the Redangs through the swamping of their boat. Mr. 

 Evans was unable to swim, but I am thankful to say that both he and 

 Mr. Yapp succeeded in holding on to the boat until they were picked up 

 by some Malays, who went to their assistance. They were about half a 

 mile from shore at the time. 



At Trengganu ray investigation of Malay industries was continued,, 

 and much useful information obtained. The most interesting was perhaps 



