4. A JOURNEY ON FOOT TO THE PATANI FRONTIER, 
rations were all that they received. The conduct of most of them 
was excellent throughout, and their merits are borne witness to by 
a recent writer on Perak.* 
Early in March, information reached me which described Maha- 
raja Lena as living with a few followers at a place called Kwala 
Piah in the North of the State. He was said to be in straightened 
circumstances and reduced to pawning valuables in order to pro- 
cure food. The information was communicated at once to the 
Governor at Singapore, and I received orders to attempt the cap- 
ture of the fugitive. 
Several difficulties had to be surmounted. The country N ort 
of Kwala Kangsa was little known to Europeans. Chigar Gala 
was the furthest point reached by officers of the Field Force, 
though the late Mr. Brrou had penetrated as far as Buluh Miniak, 
several miles further North. It would have been useless to 
attempt a march from the British camp as a starting point, for the 
route lay through kampongs inhabited by Malays friendly to the 
men of Kota Lama who had lately been in arms against us. 
Through them warning would certainly have reached Kwala Piah, 
even if armed resistance were not made to the advance of any 
party towards that place. It seemed, therefore, advisable to take 
the same route as that followed by the Police expedition by whom 
the capture of Iswarn had been attempted in January, and this 
havine been decided on, a trusty messenger was despatched to 
Province Wellesley to collect a few men who could be depended 
on. At Kwala Kanesa all mention of the intended expeduuion 
was of course wnat avoided. 
A week was spent in Penang and Province Wellesley busily 
enough in collecting men, buying provisions, arranging for trans- 
port and obtaining information. Two days after the troop-ships 
with the late garrison of Kwala Kangsa had left for India, I 
started with forty Malays on my return to Perak. How we fared 
the following journal will tell. 
Friday, March 24th, 1876. I left Butterworth, Province Wel- 
lesley, at 8 a.m. in the Government Steam-Launch Mata Mata 
(Watchman ), and steamed southwards for the mouth of the river 
* Sarong and Kris, or Perak and the Malays, by Major McNatr, B.A., p. 263. 
