62 A JOURNEY ON FOOT TO THE PATANI FRONTIER. 
leaving British territory. A Siamese priest in his yellow robes 
sauntering about idly under the trees had evidently chosen an 
exceedingly pleasant spot for his meditations on the virtues of 
Buddha. 
Our march was now nearly ended. At a short distance further 
on we came to a Chinese village built of sun-dried bricks, where a 
small crowd turned out to look at us as we passed, and thence my 
guide piloted me to the house of the Malay Penghulu, which we 
reached at 1 P.M. 
Mart Aris, the Penghulu of Baling, who governs this district for 
the Raja of Kedah, presently appeared and made us welcome. 
Green cocoa-nuts were produced and soon emptied of their refresh- 
ing contents. Declining all hospitable invitations to prolong my 
stay, I opened negotiations at once on the subject of boats for the 
river journey to Kuala Muda. I thought at one time that Malay 
procrastination would be too strong for me, but I formed an unex- 
pected ally in a Penang acquaintance, Mar Arir by name, whom 
an approaching wedding, the preparations for which were going 
forward in the Penghulu’s house, had brought to Baling. He 
undertook to engage a boat and polers, and in the meantime I 
visited the Chinese quarter with the Penghulu. The right to keep 
a gaming house and the privilege of selling opium and spirits are 
farmed out to monopolists, and we visited their establishments in 
turn. The only foreign spirit obtainable was a vile concoction 
known in the British Settlements as “Eagle Brandy,’ which is 
imported, I believe, from Hamburg or some other German town. 
It is sold wholesale in the towns of the Straits Settlements at a 
price which, when the cost of bottles, corks, capsules, labels, case, 
packing and freight is deducted, seems to leave little for the liquid. 
There can be little doubt that itis a most deleterious compound, but 
either the state of the Colonial law, or the inaction of the authori- 
ties, permits our soldiers and sailors to be poisoned with it in the 
streets of our own sea-ports. Huntiny & Patmer’s biscuits in 
tins and some bundles of Burmah cigars also formed part of the 
stock-in-trade of the spirit-seller. Fowls were cheap, and a number 
were secured by my people at five cents (about 23d) apiece. In 
Patani, the Penghulu told me, they are much cheaper and can be 
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