BOTANICAL EXCURSION TO GUNONG JERAI. 2 5 



flowered A. ilicifolius, I have only met with in the Lankawi 

 islands ; the prickly holly-like foliage is similar, but the flowers 

 are more than twice as large, and of a beautiful blue. 



The village of Yan is not visible from the sea-shore but is 

 situated a few hundred yards from the mouth of the river, which 

 at high water is deep enough to float good-sized tongkangs. 

 There is another route to it through a swampy piece of ground 

 behind the coconut plantation south of the river mouth. This 

 swamp had apparently been under paddy cultivation but at this 

 time was covered with a dense bed of sedges chiefly Scirpus 

 grossus which is used in mat making. Among it grew the charm- 

 ing water balsam Hydrocera triflo.m. 



The village is of fair size and there are a good many Chi- 

 nese settled there who make a living by cutting timber on the 

 slopes of the mountain and by making charcoal. Durians, Man- 

 gosteens, Kambai, Bachang and other fruit trees are largely cul- 

 tivated. The Durian trees were of remarkably large size, and all 

 day but especially in the evening and early morning one could hear 

 the crash of the falling fruit. Squirrels seemed to be doing 

 much damage to them and the village children were provided 

 with pellet-bows made of bamboo and rattan, from which they 

 discharged stones at the little animals. So famous are the 

 Durian trees of Yan that the natives gave a half humorous deriva- 

 tion of the word Durian, from Deri Yan. 



There were many pepper gardens in the neighbourhood and 

 I also saw coffee, patchouli and tobacco cultivated there, but the 

 latter seemed for the most part to be abandoned. Indigo I was 

 told had been tried but apparently without success. 



As in other native states under Siamese influence, such as 

 Kelantan, the women are less confined to the house than in the 

 Southern States and go about more in the villages. There was 

 a good deal of sickness apparently and as the natives had no 

 European medicines and knew nothing about indigenous drugs, 

 there was an extensive levee of applicants for. medical treatment 

 every morning. Badly neglected wounds on the feet and legs 

 from falling durians seemed to be the chief ailments. 



The Penghulu Rajah, who had been forewarned of my arrival 

 from Penang, very considerately put an empty house — the best 

 in the village— at my disposal, assisted me to procure coolies and 



4 



