V. 



A PERSONAL RECONNAISANCE OF GUNONG TAHAN * 



N the 6th August [1899] the expedition reached Kuala Aring. This 



is a small village iu Ulu Kelautau about a week's journey up the 

 Lebeh and about two days' journey from the Pahang-Kelantan 

 frontier. Here we should have been within striking distance of the 

 mountain and had to begin scouting, but, as it was obviously unneces- 

 sary for all the members of the expeditionary staff to go, I decided to 

 push on alone. The Malays at Kuala Aring, however, stubbornly 

 refused to give either active help or even information of any sort, when 

 we asked about the route ; the old Penghulu even going so far as to 

 deny the very existence of Gunong Tahan, though I afterwards heard 

 on the Tembeling River that Sakais had once piloted him from the 

 source of the Aring to that of the Tahan in a single day. 



This complicated matters ; I knew that his assertion could not 

 possibly be true, but, in view of his determined opposition, I felt that 

 I could neither trust him nor any men that he might be induced to 

 send with me and I came to the conclusion that, even if it took longer, 

 it would be much safer and surer in the end to go by the at least 

 partially known Tahan route. Having come to this decision and, as 

 there was no time to be lost, I started the very next day. 



The route from Kuala Aring to the Tembeling River in Pahang is, 

 I believe, a fairly well-known one, but I may perhaps describe it 

 shortly. After two nights on the banks of the Lebeh, we reached the 

 junction of Sungei Durian with Sungei Limau. Here we discarded 

 our boats and followed up the Limau for a short distance and then 

 struck through the jungle reaching a point on its left bank some miles 

 higher up it, where we camped for the night at the foot of a hill 

 called Bukit Awin. Next day we crossed the watershed, ascending 

 on the way, Bukit Awin, a spur of Bukit Batu Atap and several 

 smaller hills. Early in the afternoon we reached the banks of the 

 Pertang (the picturesque Pahang stream described by Mr. Clifford), 

 made a raft and descended it as far as its junction with the Sat. Then, 

 in turn, descending the latter we reached Kampong Kerayang long- 

 after nightfall. This was the first inhabited place that we came to on 

 the banks of the Sat and, after spending the night there, we proceeded 



* This account, which originally appeared in the " Malay Mail," is here re- 

 printed by the permission of the proprietors. 



Bt WALTER SKEAT, m.a. 



