12 KELANTAN AND GUNONG TAHAN. 



got to a place where it was impossible to pass through, the bed 

 of the stream being only about four feet wide, and through this 

 narrow passage the water came rushing down over boulders and 

 falls, making it impossible for any living thing to get through. 

 Luckily we found a place where the rocks were less precipitous 

 and we managed to get up these, following the direction of the 

 river till we at last got on more even ground ; and as we were 

 by this time all thoroughly done up, we decided to camp on a 

 small level piece of ground, that was situated just where another 

 small mountain stream joined the one we had been following. 

 There was no doubt that this stream came right up from the 

 mountain ; so next day we followed it until we reached a ridge. 

 This we commenced to ascend, finding it rather difficult at first 

 to cut a path through the jungle, but when we got farther up 

 we found a fairly good track, evidently made by wild beasts, 

 and the ascent was rather easy after that for the next 2000 feet. 

 We passed a number of the argus pheasants' sporting places, on 

 the way up, and heard their shrill cries all round, but never saw 

 any, though I often tried to get near them and have a shot ; 

 but they were very shy and cleared away before I could see 

 them. As we got higher and higher up, the path was evidently 

 less used by animals, and got overgrown, until it was completely 

 lost ; and we then had to cut our way through low but very 

 dense and thorny jungle, full of a kind of thin rattans, the leaves 

 of which with their hundreds of bent thorns proved a great 

 hindrance to our progress, as they caught hold of our clothes 

 everywhere, and as soon as we had got loose from one of the 

 leaves, we were hooked on to by half a dozen others. About two 

 o'clock in the afternoon we came out on a small plateau at a 

 height of about 4000', and from there we had a good look at 

 the top of the mountain which was not very far off ; but as at the 

 rate that we were travelling, it would not be possible to reach it 

 that day, we left the plateau, and followed the slope of the 

 ridge until we reached a dried-up water course ; and find- 

 ing a little water in a hollow, we decided to camp there. 

 There were no large palm leaves to be found thereabout, and so 

 darkness and rain came upon us before we had finished our 

 shelter, and we passed a miserable night, wet and shivering with 

 cold, as the rain had put our fires out. Next morning we had 



