148 THE TAKING OVER OF REMAN. 



village of Kampong Pabit, a picturesque little place, with 

 fertile bendang (padi fields) and healthy coconuts. It 

 contains about 40 people, who work the padi fields with their 

 own buffaloes. 



Here, as at all the villages through which we passed, a 

 Proclamation announcing the transfer from Siamese Suzerainty 

 to British Protection of this portion of Eeman was first read 

 aloud and then handed to the head of the village. 



We then moved on, reaching an hour later a small village 

 called Kepayang, inhabited intirely by Siamese, where we 

 halted for half an hour for lunch. 



Travelling on, we ascended an almost interminable valley, 

 that of the Sungei Kepayang, where the going was exceedingly 

 heavy for the elephants, up to a place called Ulu Kali, and 

 then across some very mountainous country via a pass known 

 locally as Dusun Pawang, finally arriving at Klian Intan at 

 6 o'clock in the evening, the whole party, including the 

 elephants, rather wearied after two days' journey of ten and 

 eleven hours, respectively. We were most hospitably enter- 

 tained here by Mr. J. D. Kemp, Manager of the Rahman Tin Co. 



There seems to be some doubt as to the name of this 

 populous mining locality. In the story of my first visit to it 

 I have quoted at length from Sir William Maxwell, who called 

 it and wrote of it as Klian Intan. 



Berkeley, whose local knowledge must have much 

 weight, is of opinion that the name is Klian Hitam (Black 

 Mine), but that, ow T ing to the admitted inability of the Petani 

 Malay to pronounce the letter "m," the latter of the two 

 words has become Hitan (or Itan). He is supported in this 

 view by Wan Husein, the Ampur of Betong, who has just 

 handed over the district. 



On the other hand, the Datoh Sri Adika Raja, whose 

 ancestors lived and fought in and about the mines and had 

 hereditary rights therein, states that the name was Klian 

 Intan (Diamond Mine), the belief in former days being that 

 diamonds were to be, or would be, found there. It is sadd to 

 be a common practice among Northern Malays to drop the 



Jour. Straits Branch 



