4^2 
The tropical agriculturist 
[January i, 1891 
Juae 29th. — Acoompsnied by the Eesident, Mr- 
Berrington and Mr. Pierce, Acting Superintendent of 
Works, 1 rode up to Teraohi in the morning. The 
road parses through a beautiful and highly culti- 
vated country, village after village in woll-cared-for 
compounds or orchards lying in the valleys up which 
the track runs. Ayer Sejuk in Terachi I was met 
by the Penghulu of Teraohi and the neighbouring 
Chiefs, who had created a basie, adorned with flowers 
and palms, in which breakfast was served. 
The difficulties of traversing the Bukit Putusj-ange 
by railway trace have been overcome, and I was able 
here to see how easy the trace will be down the 
Teraohi and Muar valleys to Kuala Pilab, and bow 
much the country, thickly populated as it is by a 
permanent Malay agricultural population, will benefit 
from the construction of a railway, which will reach 
Kuala Pilah in lees than 22J miles from Seremban, 
with a tunnel of 330 yards at Bukit Putus, where the 
line reaches its highest elevation of 713 feet above 
sea level (h. w. spring tides). 
July 2nd. — LeftTanjongKling in the '“Sea Belle” and, 
after visiting the light-house on Pulau Undan, steamed 
on to the mouth of the Muer, where a launch was 
in readiness to take us up the river. At Bandar 
Maharanee I was received hy the Acting Resident, 
Tunku Othman, and by Messrs Garland and Faithful, 
who have been engaged on extensive waterworks for 
the supply of the town, and also on a narrow gauge 
line running at present 8j miles along the coast to 
Parit Jawa. 
The line is on a 2-foot 6-inch gauge, and though not 
yet ballasted, is open for regular traffic, and is earning, 
in addition to its working expenses, something under 
5 per cent on an expenditure of $75,000. It is proposed 
to extend it about 17 miles to Batu Pahat. The areoa- 
nut groves through which it passes extend along the 
sea shore about 30 miles and have an average breadth 
of 5 miles. After a drive round the town I went up 
the line as far as Parit Makar, about miles from 
Bandar Maharanee, and then returned to Malacca for 
the night. 
July 19lh. — Arrived off Kuala Pahang about 11 a.m. 
Found the “ Porpoise” there, and was met by the British 
Resident, Mr. Rodger, in the launch “Ethel,” which took 
us over the bar and np the river some 7 or 8 miles to 
the Pekan, where the river banks and the landing stage 
had beeH prettily decorated by the inhabitants, a beauti- 
ful arch erected by the Sinhalese residents forming 
the centre of the decorations. Later in the day walked 
round the town. The Gaol in particular is noticeaule 
for the clever manner in which the simplest and 
cheapest materials have been used to make a secure 
prison. The palisade is made of pointed palm trunks 
which are fixed side by side in the ground and held 
together by transverse bars of timber, not nailed on 
to the uprights, but running through holes pierced 
in the palms and threading them together into a fence 
very difficult to scale. 
July 22nd. —Found the “Porpoise” anchored off Tiiog- 
ganu about 2 miles from the shore, and took up a 
berth just inside her after passing a very numerous 
fleet of fishing boats patting out from the mouth of 
the river. We climbed up to the old fort which com- 
mands the Kuala. This looks more like au observatory 
than a fort, guus of obsolete patterns are mounted at 
all sorts of angles on slender wooden pillars and 
pointed to the sky like telescopes, but it commands 
a line view. The town is of oonsiderable size, and the 
large fishing licet seen in the distance hears witness 
to considerable enterprise on the part of the inhabi- 
tants. The country inland and along the coast i.s 
densely covered with coconut palms, hut it was evident 
that the beetle which has done so much harm in the 
Colony is in possessiou also at Tringganu, and a great 
many trees along the coast have been destroyed by it. 
.July 20lh. — Reached Singora at 7 n.m. A Siamese 
dagoba on a couical hill makes a prominent land- 
mark near the mouth of the river ; groves of ooco/iut 
palms and casuarinas (Malay r)ui) were seen here 
along Iho shore, as at most of the places we visited 
in these parts, and as usual, too, tho coconut palm.s 
near the shore had suffered considerably from tho 
beetle. The natives say, however, that its ravages 
are limited to a narrow strip of land next the sea 
The Governor, whose great-grandfather was a 
Chinaman, is a very intelligent man, and shewer 
me several photographs of his own taking, and 
a good lathe with several very creditable productions 
of his own from it. 
Retired from the busy part of the town is a well 
kept enclosure containing several Siamese Buddliist 
temples, some of them most elaborately decorated 
and extremely curious, and, iu some of the details, 
beautiful. 
Sept, 2nd. — Arrived at Ponangat 8 a.m. 
Sept. 3rd. — An interesting case of latah, or imitative 
madness, in some respects l-.ke “ echo ” insanity, 
was brought on board tor Dr. Ellis to see. Saw the 
Superintendent of Police, Mr. Bell, in reference to 
the action taken in Executive Connoil yesterday, and 
after despatching letters to Singapore, weighed 
anchor at 11 s.m., leaving Mr. H. Trotter in charge 
during the absence of Mr." A. M. Skinner, whom I 
added to our party as Consul for the Siamese ports 
of the West Coast of the Malay Peninsula, with Mr, 
F. T. Thorold of the Perak Service as my Inter- 
preter. 
We left Captain Cameron in Penang to meet Mr. 
Kelly, lats of the Indian Survey Department, who 
is g’oing to carry out the Penang Survey on the 
system recommended by Colonel Birrou, b.s.c. {see 
Sessional Papers, 1887, Appendix No. 11), and Mr. 
Rostock, who comes out from England to obtain 
particulars to enable Sir John Ooode to report on 
tho best system of wharves for improving the Port 
of Penang. 
Sept. 8th. — Had an interview with Mr. John H. 
Bostock, who has come out from England to report 
on the best means of giving Penang Harbour such 
wharf and warehouse accommodation as the trade 
requires. Also with Mr. F. W. Kelly, late of the 
Indian Survey Department, who has taken service 
here to carry Out the cadastral survey recommended 
by Colonel Barron. B.s.c. 
September 10th, — Up at 5 a.m., and at an early hour 
we bade adieu to our kindly host, and sailed some 
two hours later than we had intended at t a.m. for 
Coh Mak, a low alluvial island formed at the mouth 
of the Punga River. Up the river we passed close 
under these perpcndicnlar cliff.*, which rise abrupt 
from tho water’s edge to a height of some 1,200 feet, 
clothed from foot to summit wit'n small trees of great 
variety. Had a day amidst natural sencery which 
it would be difficult lo find equalled anywhere in a 
ten hours’ sail. Punga is a small State with some 
tin mines, and a population of Siamese, Chinese and (a 
few) Malays. The Raja is a veritable “ Lord of the 
Isles,” but the right to collect the edible birds’ nests 
which are fonnd here is in the hands of the Malay 
Raja of Kedah, not, as has been supposed, a survival 
of the Malay suprem.scy by saa of former days, 
but as a farmer of this part of the Revenues of 
Siam ! 
It was fortunately one of the days for the market 
held here twice a week, and the whole length of 
the main street was lined with stalls kept by Chinese 
men and by Siamese women, in which vegetables and 
fruits, fish dried and fresh, and various kinds of 
country produce in abundance were displayed for sale. 
Close to Tap Tiau we had passed through extensive 
fields of slpendid pepper vinos — the finest grown in 
the Peninsula — owned chiefly by British subjects — 
Penang-born Chinese. The pepper here is grown 
climbing on living dadap, on the Sumatra system, in- 
stead of on dead sticks like hop^poles. The soil is deep 
red laterite thoroughly disintegrated. Trang is closely 
connected with Ligor on the East coast, there being 
between the two places one of the routes across 
the Peninsula ; and it was by this route that Antonio 
de Miranda de Azivodo, the second Envoy sent by 
d’Alhnquerque to Ayuthia — the then capital of Siam 
made his journey, going from Malacca by sea to 
“Taranquo” and thence hy land with horses and draught 
oxen. 'The roads iu the early part of the 16th century 
must have been better than now, as they are not good 
even for elephants and would be absolutely impassable 
fot draught oxen. The population is Siamese, Chinese 
