142 A JOUBNEY IW JOHORE. 



its bed easily lost; a boat is obliged to go 

 among these trees in the same way as a 

 traveller in the jungle wilhont a footpath : 

 a current always rapid, with these incon- 

 veniences, renders tiic navigation danger- 

 ous. It would certainly be very imprudent 

 to undertake to navigate it witliout a guide 

 well acquainted with the place. The Jakuns 

 who guided me, though well accustomed 

 to the locality, lost their wa\ several times. 

 At about five miles distant from its mouth , 

 the river is clear from trees, and piesents 

 a fine prospect. The banks are now high, 

 and a great part of the adjacent grounds 

 Iiave been cultivated in former times, al- 

 Ihougfi they are now almost entirely aban- 

 doned. A considerable number of alligators 

 which are met with in the moutli of the 

 river, and a few miles higher, astonish the 

 traveller who for the first time navigates 

 it. Tiie river of Banut abounds with lish , 

 and turtles of very large size. My guides 



