i 
JOURNAL 
OF 
THE ASIATIC SOCTETY. 
No. 22.—October, 1833. 
I.—A visit to the Gold Mine at Battang Moring, and Summit of Mount 
Ophir, or ‘‘ Gunong Ledang,” in the Malay Peninsula. By Lieut. J. 
T. Newbold, 23rd Regt. Mad. L. Inf. 
On the 20th April, I arrived at Assahan from Malacca on route to 
Mount Ophir. Assahan lies about 31 miles E. N. E. from Malacca, 
and is our most advanced outpost towards the frontier of the independ- 
ent state of Muar. The stockade is situated on the summit of a knoll 
partially cleared of wood and crowned by cocoanut trees; it consists 
of a defence of upright piles driven deep into the ground, and is about 
sixteen yards square, with a low banquette running round; enclosed 
by this is a small unfinished caserne capable of accommodating thirty 
men, constructed of Atap. The knoll terminates on the north-east and 
west in a swampy sawah, and is approached by a footpath traversing 
some rough ground from the south; through the eastern part of the 
sawah runs the Assahan rivulet, and beyond this is a stretch of forest 
amid which lies enshrouded Ophir’s gigantic foot. Assahan, owing 
to the exactions and tyrannies practised by the petty Malayan chiefs 
around, has been almost deserted by the native population; who are 
now, however, re-assured by the presence of our troops, slowly return- 
ing to their ravaged homes. 
At a quarter to one ep. m. Lieut. Hawxezs and myself left Assahan, 
with a posse comitatus consisting of a naique, six sepoys, and six con- 
victs ; Amas Karo, the Panghulu of Sunjiedua, the Imam of Bokko, 
Daniet Peters the Portugueze interpreter, Naszp an Abyssinian, and 
a guide named Haji, with ten Malays provided with ‘‘ parangs” 
to clear a path through the thick underwood and numerous ratans and 
creepers with which a Malay forest abounds. After travelling along 
2s 
