26 BOTANICAL EXCURSION TO GUNQN.G JEKAI. 



sent an armed guard to watch over the house at night while 1 

 was there, as well as a patrol who rambled about at night armed 

 with spears and lanterns. The use of the stocks for malefactors 

 was not abolished here, and in one house we saw a native fixed 

 in them by one leg. . 



The natives recommended that I should start early in the 

 morning for the Peak, as it rained frequently in the afternoon, 

 so it was determined to remain in Yan for the rest of the day. 

 Mr. Curtis returned to Penang and I occupied the time in collect- 

 ing in the nearest patch of jungle, where were a number of trees 

 hardly or not at all known to me. Among them a large Mag- 

 nolia (Talauma sp.) with very large white fruit with pink seeds, 

 Stroplianihus Jackianm with its long-tailed orange flowers, a 

 pretty Elettaviopsis (E. latiflora) with white, crimson and yellow 

 flowers, and the shrubby Bauhinia mollissima with red flowers, one 

 petal of which is white and yellow, especially claimed attention. 

 Specimens of a small tree called here Nasi Sejuk (cold rice) were 

 brought me by the men. The branches bore a handsome fruit 

 as large and of the same colour as a good orange. It contained 

 several large seeds wrapped in a sweet well-flavoured pulp. The 

 tree proved to be Salacia flavescens. 



I secured a specimen of a small prettily marked snake with 

 remarkably large eyes and later in the day a large black and 

 white Typhlops was brought me. These were all the reptiles I 

 saw except the common green tree snake Tragops porcinus and a 

 very large tortoise which I perceived creeping along the bottom 

 of the river in the early morning as I went down to bathe. It 

 burrowed under the bank and I could not get it out. There 

 were said to be no crocodiles in the river. 



About three miles from Yan is a fine waterfall which is well 

 worth a visit. The route to it follows the telegraph line towards 

 Kedah. The fall is visible for a considerable distance out at sea. 

 After remaining a day at Yan, I started with the coolies to as- 

 cend the mountain. Passing' through a little open country inter- 

 spersed with woods, one reaches the dense jungle which covers the 

 mountain-side. A guide is necessary for at least the first part of 

 the way, as there are many tracks made by charcoal-burners and 

 timber-cutters, which are likely to lead the explorer astray. 

 The lower woods would well repay a thorough botanical investi- 



