S54 A JOURNEY ON FOOT TO THE PATANI FRONTIER. 
seasons the desolation which we now encountered was the normal 
condition of the Settlement. We took possession of the principal 
house, not sorry to get under cover after an afternoon of incessant 
rain. The abandoned gardens supplied us liberally with vegetables 
of various kinds, but leeches, mosquitoes, and sand-flies made us 
regret the departure of the Malay owners. Rank vegetation grew 
right up to the houses, and, of course, harboured an undesirable 
quantity of insect life. 
April 12th“ Before the flies were astir,” as the Malays say, we 
were up and preparing for an onward movement. The decaying 
huts of Plan were soon left behind, and we went forward with the 
energy of men whose faces are turned towards home. During the 
early part cf the day we were still marching up the valley of the 
Rui river, through the usual jungle scenery, silent forest and run- 
ning water. Jive times did we wade through the Rui, which, even 
as far up as this, is no inconsiderable stream. Groves of ancient 
durian trees, telling of former cultivators, long dead and gone, 
fringed the river bank in places, but no hut or column of smoke 
betokened human life anywhere. Crossing over a hill (Bukit 
Berapit), which overhangs the river, we descended to a stream, 
Lubok Golok, which runs into the Rui close by. Here, in former 
days of Perak supremacy, the tin produced from the mines of Intan 
and Endah was put into boats for conveyance down the Rui to the 
Perak river. But all signs of trade have long disappeared, for the 
Patani rulers find a nearer market for their metal at Baling in 
Kedah than at any point in Ulu Perak. At Kuala Kapayang 
signs of cultivation were apparent. A field or two of Indian corn 
and a few Siamese and Malay kampongs in the vicinity—the first 
inhabited places we had fallen in with since leaving Kernei—were 
a relief after miles of undisturbed jungle. A woman who stood 
in her corn-patch, astonished at the sight of so many strangers, 
said, in answer to questions, that there were six or seven houses 
(Siamese ) about here. Wondering what induced people to settle 
in this remote place, we went on again along the forest track 
which we had followed since the morning. Truly, Malay travel- 
ling, if one travels as a Malay, is a rough experience. The jungle 
abounds in traps for the unwary, tangled nets of roots which catch 
