SELAMA TO PONG, PATANI. 115 
Waited a long time for them to come up, most of them have 
bad feet. Passed some of the plantations of the Siamese vil- 
lagers on the right ; road going up and down; small but steep 
hills. Began to get into low jungle about 3 P.M.; crossed Baling 
River five or six times. Heavy rain came on at 3 P.M. drench- 
ing us thoroughly. Stopped a few minutes for shelter ata 
Siamese temple on the banks of Baling River. Went on and 
were joined by a Chinaman named AH SOOT, who offered 
to put us up at his house at Baling; he said the Resident had 
stopped there on his recent tour; gladly accepted his hospi- 
table offer. Arrived at Baling* at 4.30 P.M. and took up our 
quarters in AH SooT’s house, one of a row of ten or twelve 
brick buildings. This house is not occupied yet; so we have it 
all to ourselves, and thoroughly appreciate the luxury of a house 
once more. AH SOOT says the Resident when here told him 
to go and search for copper near the lake just mentioned, and 
to let him know the result ; when I met him on the path he was 
just returning from there and showed me a piece of ore that 
looked very much like copper. He says a little distance from 
the lake there is a stream that flows through a cavern right 
underneath the hill. It was up this stream that he got the 
ore. Hesays he is going to work there for a few days longer 
until he is certain that he has come across plenty of it, and 
then he is going to take some to the Resident. He is very 
much afraid that the Patani people will find out what he is 
about, and is keeping it as dark as he can. 
In front of the village here towers an almost perpendicular 
hill, Bukit Wang, all rocks, thickly wooded, with the rock 
showing out quite plainly, about 1,000 feet high, I should 
think. It is all limestone, and is easy of ascent along the 
ridge, and there are many large caves in it full of bats and 
therefore of guano [| presume. They are a bad lot here, I 
have been warned by AH SOOT to be careful about opening 
the street door, and to have some one always watching it 
when open, as there are always people ready to help them- 
selves to anything they can lay hands on. 
* For a description of this place in 1876, see Journal, Straits Branch of the 
Royal Asiatic Society, No. 9, p. 62. 
