10 GUNONG TAHAN AND GUNONG RIAM. 
beling Malays for the journey. After ascending the Tembeling 
River for two days the Kuala of the Tahan River was reached and 
the compact little expedition disposed itself in a dug-out to face 
the laborious business of ascending the Tahan River. The three 
Malays were ample to manage the boat and to carry up the moun- 
tain sufficient food to sustain the whole party for some days. The 
‘baggage consisted of a few cooking utensils, a quantity of plain food, 
a thin jungle mattress, blanket and mosquito-net, and various spare 
~garments, all wrapped up in three light waterproof sheets, making 
three convenient bundles. The. men’s rice, on which I claimed the 
right to draw, was included with the other food. The three bundles 
of baggage were placed on a small bamboo deck in the dug-out, and 
I made myself as comfortable as’ possibleamong them. The absence 
of any firearms was the cause of some expostulation from Kakap 
Hussein and the men, who asstred me that there were many ene- 
mies to be encountered, including dragons. 
The three Malays with me were Bulang, the guide, Mat Jeher, 
and Mat Riflin. Bulang was a short cheerful little fellow who always 
looked on the bright side of things. Mat Jeher was of a different 
mould, not particularly pleasant to look upon, he was intensely ig- 
viorant and therefore superstitious. He had not been up the moun- 
tain before and was obviously very perturbed in his mind about the 
fate that would overtake him. The third man, Mat Riflin, was, and 
still is, the pleasantest Malay that I have ever met. He was then 
about 24 years of age and had received sufficient education to 
‘discuss the works of Abdullah and the literature described as “ Malay 
Readers.”’ 
The expedition, with a leader who knew enough to recognise 
the wisdom of being led, began the journey up the TI'ahan River on 
the Lith of May. The Tahan River is not the most navigable river 
-in the world, and although in Europe it would not attract notice on 
that account, because no one would attempt to navigate it, being of 
much the same nature as a rocky trout stream in mountainous 
‘ country, here, in the Malay Peninsula, what might be held out in 
-the United Kingdom as a lure to trippers, become objectionable fea- 
tures that must be surmounted if one would proceed. There is one 
“long still reach; the rest is all rapids, nothing really bad in the way 
of rapids, nothing to compare with the rapids in the Tembeling. 
above Kuala Tahan for instance, but still enough to necessitate 
frequent unloading of baggage and hauling the boat over rocks. 
- What the distance to Kuala Teku, where one leaves the boat, may 
be, I do not know, but it took our, lightly equipped party three days. 
to arrive there. The dryness.of the season may have made our 
progress slower than it might have been otherwise. 
Apart from the beauty of the Tahan River, flowing ¢ over its 
rocky bed through an avenue of magnificent jungle trees, two things 
associated with it have left a strong impression on my memory. 
One was Jeher’s nightmares. On our way upstream we slept in 
little sheds built by gutta-hunters. They were most conveniently: 
Jour. Straits Branch 
