JOUKNEY TO THE SUMMIT OF CHTKOffG BUBU. 279 



about a mile. After this, we had to climb by roots of trees, 

 stumps and branches, and made but slow progress. I cannot 

 say now whether this portion of our journey was on the face of 

 a cliff or not. We could see absolutely nothing around us 

 but trees and roots, and these overhung with such a thick 

 coating of brown moss, ferns and orchids, that above and 

 below were equally hidden. Sometimes we crept in and out 

 under these roots and over them, or climbed a tree to get to 

 some ledge near its upper branches, but where we were going, 

 or how far we were, could only be guessed from the barometer. 

 I do not suppose, however, that any one could climb so steep 

 an ascent with less danger. One could not fall. It would 

 puzzle any person to throw a stone more than a few yards 

 amid such a thicket. 



At five thousand feet by the aneroid, we began to see the 

 first specimens of that graceful fern Matonia pectinata. This 

 has never been previously recorded from Perak, and the only 

 habitats are Java and Mount Ophir near Malacca, where it is 

 associated with Dipteris Horsfeldii. The latter fern we had 

 seen 1,000 feet below, and it occurs on all the mountains of 

 Perak at heights a little over 3,500 feet but at Singapore 

 it is found at the sea level. Besides this, there was plen- 

 ty to see and admire in the way of ferns, orchids and 

 mosses, with many curious fungi and lichens, for the mois- 

 ture and deep shade made the place the very home of the cryp- 

 togamia. But the climbing was such very hard work, that 

 attention to anything else was almost impossible. At about 

 5,400 feet, the entire vegetation changed. It was still a thick- 

 et, but more or less stunted and twiggy, very distressing to 

 climb. I cannot say how long it continued, but long before 

 I expected it, we suddenly found ourselves on an open level 

 space, on the summit of Mount Bubu. 



