NOTES ON A TRIP TO BUKIT ETAM, SELANGOR. 69 



giant bamboos is passed through, and the character of the 

 jungle begins to change. The undergrowth is not so dense. 

 There is also a perceptible difference in the air — there is a 

 freshness in it that that of the low jungle does not possess. 

 The path here zigzags a good deal, owing to the steepness of 

 the hill. At a height of 2,000 to 2,500 feet the jungle becomes 

 more stunted : fewer large trees are seen and magnificent tree 

 ferns reaching a height of 20 or 30 feet are fairly common. The 

 path follows the crest of a spur of the main ridge, till it reaches 

 a small Sakei ladang, or clearing, where a bamboo hut had 

 been erected for the use of the Resident when he visited the 

 hill some weeks before. Here there were also one or two de- 

 serted Sakei huts — mere attap sheds raised on poles some ten 

 feet or so from the ground — and a small plantation of sugar- 

 cane. Here we spent the night very comfortably, although it 

 was rather cold, and were lulled to sleep by the sweet wild 

 music of the Sakei wind-organs. These are made of long 

 bamboos, in each joint of which is made a small slit. They 

 are lashed upright to the top branches of a tree, and when the 

 wind blows act something like gigantic flutes. The sound 

 they make is weird yet soothing. 



On the morning of the 3rd January, we started at 7 A.M., 

 and under the guidance of the only Sakei we found in the 

 place ( who informed us that he had been with CAMERON, the 

 well-known Malayan explorer) went to the top of the ridge. 

 All the valleys below were full of white mist, which marked 

 out the courses of the streams, but as this cleared away un- 

 der the influence of the morning sun, we had a magnificent 

 view — Kwala Lumpur due West, and beyond that Klang 

 Straits, and a little more to the northward Pulau Angsa. By 

 climbing a tree we got a view all round, and found we were 

 at the highest point of the ridge. The hill consists of a hog- 

 backed ridge four or five miles long, running North and 

 South and rising from South to North, with several spurs ly- 

 ing at right angles to it. The top of the ridge is only a few 

 yards wide and the sides slope steeply down. An animal 

 track runs along the crest, and the rocks and roots of trees 

 between which it passes are in many places worn smooth by 



