Gunong Tahan and Gunong Riam 
By J. B. SCRIVENOR. 
With plates I—IV. 
So little has been written about the mountains of the Malay 
Peninsula that there is small reason to give any excuse for the fol- 
lowing pages concerning the two highest eminences in the country, 
Gunong Tahan on the borders of Pahang and Kelantan, and Gunong 
Riam, better known as Gunong Kerbau, on the borders of Pahang 
and Perak. The paper is the outcome of a recent ascent of Gunong 
Riam, and the opportunity of comparing it with Gunong Tahan, 
which I ascended in 1906, and other peaks that I have visited in the 
Malay States. 
The height of these two mountains was in 1906 believed to 
be:—Gunong Riam 7160 feet: Gunong Tahan 7050 feet, but the 
latest determination for Gunong Tahan makes it 7186 feet and 
therefcre higher than Gunong Riam. For this figure I am indebt- 
ed to the Surveyor-General, Col. Jackson. 
I may as well say at once that no claim to “ mountaineering” 
adventures is put forward in this paper. After haying ascended 
four of the highest peaks in the country I know that the journey up 
any one of them is best described as a rather stiff up-hill walk with 
an occasional scramble among the thick vegetation. I have not yet 
seen one place that cannot be easily negotiated. The Saddleback 
on Suowdon and the Striding Edge on Helvellyn are more thrilling 
than anything I have seen on the Peninsular Mountains. I expect 
the limestone hills, however, as being capable of affording any amount 
of climbing exercise, but they can hardly be called mourtains, and 
generally speaking, little is gained by climbing them. I shall never 
forget my feelings when once invited to go up a vertical cliff of lime- 
stone clinging to one slender creeper. MRecollecting that the nearest 
hospital was five days journey away, I declined. 
It has been my practice when travelling in the Peninsula to 
attend strictly to my own work and to avoid giving way to the temp- 
tation of dabbling in sciengific subjects other than my own. This 
is because I have no reason to suppose that a geologist’s zoological 
or botanical observations are one whit more valuable than a zoolo- 
gist’s or botanist’s geological observations. Therefore, beyond an oc- 
casional remark, the accuracy of which is not guaranteed, concern- 
ing the fauna and flora, I have little to say of a scientific nature ; 
but I believe that a plain narrative of the journeys will prove to be 
of some interest. The determination of heights of peaks also has 
been. left to those best qualified to give an opinion on the subject, 
and I have therefore refrained from burdening myself with a heavy 
theodolite. | 
Jour. Straits Branch 
