616 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES IN MALAYSIA AND ASIA, 



Mr. Scaife liad crossed frotn the Semanten to Kuala Lumpor on 

 foot and accompanied only by a few Malays. In July 1885, I 

 proceeded from Singapore to the Pahang river in company with 

 Mr. Scaife and a Mr. James. We intended to explore the river 

 as far as the gold mines by means of a small steam launch belonging 

 to the gold-mining company that was just formed. Our intention 

 was also to report upon the mines which had been already explored 

 by Mr. Scaife. 



On entering the river Pahang we found the chaunel to be 

 extremely tortuous and difficult. The town of Pekan which is 

 the sultau's residence and the capital of the state is about eight 

 miles up the river. It is a large town with fewer Chinese inhabi- 

 tants than is usual in these regions. Some of the houses are 

 built upon rafts always floating in the river, but there is a good 

 brick and stone mo.sque about the size of a small chapel. The 

 sultan's palace is a more pretentious two-storied residence. In the 

 centre of the town is a conspicuous shed, under which the prin- 

 cipal nobility and government officers give all the vast resources of 

 their intellects to top-spinning, often led by the sultan himself. 

 The tops are the most effective things in tops outside of Japan, 

 and in all the specialities and refinements of top-spinning they are 

 second only to the Japanese. They can boast of having biought 

 the industry to its highest degree of perfection, having spared 

 nothing that labour or genius could bring to bear upon the subject. 

 The importance of this speciality to the kinscdom can be easily 

 imagined. 



As it was the fine season of the year, when the rnns are compara- 

 tively light, the river was too low for our launch. Though only 

 drawing three feet of water, we found it impossible to proceed, as 

 we grounded almost every mile, even assisted by Malay pilots who 

 knew the channel well. We lost more than three days in 

 advancing about five miles. Then the sultan lent us a large canoe, 

 with a crew of ten boatmen and a pilot. He also gave us a letter 

 of recommendation to the different functionaries on the river, so 

 that we could get help when we needed it. All these favours 

 were only obtained after much delay, so that it was several days 



