124 MY TRIP TO BELCM. 



On the 2nd August, we left our camp at 7.45 a.m., and at 

 once got into the open out Jeram Kekua (a tine rapid). Here 

 there is a wide rocky bay with very slippery going for elephants. 

 Kulop Bintang fell and split both his tusks. Our little enemies, 

 the rengit, were most persistent. At 8.45 we skirted Lobok 

 Panjang (the long pool). The Perak river runs quite straight 

 and deep here for some three-quarters of a mile between high 

 banks. 



We seemed to be steadily climbing. At 11.15 we crossed 

 a tine clear stream of some size, the Sungei Tahan, and later 

 crossed the main river five times. Near one crossing, Manik, 

 we came, on the spot where one of Mr. Caulfeild's camp follow- 

 ers was taken in 1881 by a tiger out of an elephant's kop 

 (howdah) in the middle of the camp. It is a tiger country, and 

 many are the tales told of how man-eaters have killed people 

 in the past. 



We went on further than we had intended, passed Jakat 

 without knowing it, and camped at 3.20 p.m., in a place that 

 was not inviting. A species of cobra and an ular matahari (a 

 beautiful but poisonous whipcord snake) were killed within a 

 foot of each other where my tent was being pitched, and when 

 the ground for Simmons' tent was being prepared, a few minutes 

 later, a small ular matahari was killed. It is very rarely that 

 one sees snakes in big jungle, so this incident is quite remark- 

 able. 



While we were all bathing in the river, we heard elephants 

 trumpeting, and the gembalas were sent off to see what had 

 happened. Bogek was tethered, but Kulop Chandan, a big tusker 

 of the Sultan's, passed within the length of his chain and receiv- 

 ed two pokes in the neighbourhood of his tail. Berkeley 

 examined the marks but decided that they were not serious. 



On the 3rd August, Simmons and I left camp at 7.15 a.m., 

 and rode on Meh Mas as far as the Rest-house, which Wan 

 Husein has established at Tunggul Burok (the rotten stump). 

 There we got off at 9.20, and led by Datoh Wan Man and 

 followed by the Chinese cook and Simmons' Malay boy (a Saiong 

 man), we commenced to walk into Belum. We crossed at least 



Jour, Straits Branch 



