JOURNEY ACROSS THE MALAY PENINSULA. ii 
life to see the Raja at the mouth of the river, and though he 
(Tou Bakar) is called the owner of Trtsang, one of the 
richest gold districts in Pahang, it is said the Raja has lately 
given the place to the Ton Gasan. Spent the day in writing 
and settling with our Malay and Sakei cools, the latter 
returning highly delighted with their earnings. After dinner 
had a talk with Tou Bakar. He and the people with him told 
me of all the taxes they are called upon to pay. Once a year 
the people are numbered, and have to pay $1.33 a head to the 
Yam Titan; this they call Hasil banchi. Then there is the 
serah, a form of squeeze still practised in Pahang ; some worth- 
less thing is sent from the Raja to a subject, a price is named, 
and the subject is obliged to purchase at that price. Again 
when a District Chief goes annually to pay homage to the 
Raja, the Chief calls upon every man in his district to pay $1 
towards his expenses, and a similar contribution is demanded 
for the return journey. All gold must be sold to the Raja 
only, and it is said there is no standard of weight. It is said 
that most imports and exports are taxed, debt-slavery prevails 
in parts, and the people are liable to be called out for forced 
labour. The Dato’ tells me that Mr. W. Camuron came here 
and went on to Batu Gajah, but he is the only white man he 
ever saw. 
A curious thing yesterday was to hear the cry, twice 
repeated, of a wild Sakei as yet unfamiliar with Malays. The 
cry was exactly like that of a wild beast, and was probably a 
warning to the friends of the man who uttered it; he could 
not have been far from us en the eastern slope of Bérang. 
Some of our people caught with nets this afternoon two of the 
finest fresh water fish I ever tasted in the East—ihkan klah— 
weighing about 6 lbs. each. 
Monday, 20th April—After no little trouble arranging our 
baggage for the rafts (bamboo, four feet wide and about twenty- 
five feet long) we left Permitang Linggi at 8 a.m. We had 
twenty-four rafts manned by Ton Bakar’s adherents and 
eight of the men I had brought over. The Dato’, his son and 
all his people accompanied us, and the start was a most pictur- 
esque. scene. Each raft had a polerat the stem and another at 
the stern, some baggage and one or two passengers on a raised 
central platform. The rafts at once began the descent of a 
