PREFATORY NOTE. 



Since the days of the veteran Russian explorer and ethnologist, 

 Baron Mikluho-Maclay, who. in his adventurous journey across the 

 Peninsula, via the Tembeling and Kelantan Rivers, was the first 

 European to hear of Gunong Tahan, much interest has been excited 

 by tales of an enormous mountain in the wildest part of the Peninsula 

 between the northern districts of Pahang and the neighbouring State 

 of Kelantan, ranging in height, according to different reports, from 

 10,000 to 14,000 ft. 



Numerous efforts have been made in the past to reach this once 

 mysterious mountain; but all failed, owing to a variety of reasons, the 

 chief of which were either the inexperience of the European leaders in 

 dealing with native transport, or else failure of supplies, owing to the 

 great distance of the hill from any inhabited districts and the bulki- 

 nesa of the rice required for Malay carriers. 



The first serious attempt on the mountain was that made in 1890 

 by Mr. H. N. Ridley, Director of the Botanic Oardens, Singapore, with 

 the assistance of the Straits Government. The time chosen, however 

 just before the second Pahang war, was very unfavourable, and such 

 information as was possessed by the local natives seems to have been 

 deliberately withheld ; while the coolies, largely natives of Kelantan, were 

 not familiar with the local conditions and seemed to have been most 

 inefficient in every way. The expedition was foredoomed to failure 

 from the start and only succeeded in navigating the Tahan River for 

 about half the total distance possible under favourable conditions. 



Some years later, in August and September, 1899, Mr. Skeat — at 

 that time a member of the Federated Malay States Civil Service and 

 leader of an expedition which, under the auspices of the University 

 of Cambridge, was exploring the Eastern States of the Malay Penin- 

 sula — made a flying visit to the mountain. His account is reprinted 

 in full, with foot-notes of my own, as an addition to this report, and 

 I need say no more than that the attempt was within an ace of suc- 

 cess, but that — considering the time of year at which the expedition 

 took place, the character of the equipment and the method of travel 

 adopted — the party were remarkably lucky in escaping serious disaster. 



Shortly before Mr. Skeat's ascent a Mr. Becher, who was prospect- 

 ing the district, was drowned in a flood, a few miles up the Tahan 

 River, owing to his disregarding the advice of the local Malaya 

 with regard to the selection of his camp site. 



The last recorded attempt is that of Mr. Waterstradt, a Danish 

 naturalist, in the employ of the Hon. W. Rothschild, m.p., who 

 ascended the range from the Kelantan side and whose account is 

 given at length in the "Journal of the Straits Asiatic Society" for 1902. 



