FASCICULI MALATENSES 
xxxiii 
the ‘ Sakais,’ and his friends allowed us to loot their houses in our 
search for ethnographical specimens, which we did with great satisfaction 
both to them and to ourselves, having some difficulty in persuading them 
to accept the remuneration that we considered fair, but they regarded as 
altogether extravagant. Altogether we spent nearly a week in this neigh- 
bourhood, where we had the opportunity of inspecting the preliminaries of 
an indigenous Siamese funeral, as well as obtaining some interesting speci- 
mens. 
Nawngchik 
The state of Nawngchik lies between Jalor and the sea, marching with 
Patani to the East and with Tibaw on the other side. Its area is about a 
third greater than that of Patani. Seen from the flank of the mountain 
Bukit Besar, the greater part of the state is covered with low brushwood, and 
little thick jungle remains. The population in a few localities is, however, 
dense, and there are open plains on which a large number of cattle are 
pastured. We paid three visits to Nawngchik, staying for some weeks at a 
time on two occasions, and a considerable part of our zoological, anthropo- 
metrical and ethnographical data were obtained in the state, as the conditions 
were favourable in all cases. 
Nawngchik town , called Tojan by the Malays, is situated on a branch of 
the Patani which was formerly the chief effluent of that river ; it lies about 
two miles from the sea, and about six from Patani town, with which it is 
connected by a sandy track and a ferry. A wooden bridge also serves for 
foot-passengers across the Nawngchik River, but is too weak to support an 
elephant ; the only vehicular traffic in the neighbourhood is conducted in 
Japanese ’rickshas, which have been introduced into Patani and are occasion- 
ally taken to the neighbouring places. The population of Nawngchik town 
cannot exceed two thousand, consisting very largely of indigenous Siamese, 
though there is a considerable Chinese element. The place is the headquarters 
of the governor, who is also recognised as raja or phya. Much of the 
surrounding country is waste ground, covered with short grass and clumps of 
bushes, among the roots of which the orchid, Phalanopsis esmeraldae\ is very 
common and reaches a magnificent development, differing from most orchids 
in preferring to grow in almost pure sand. 
We were detained at Nawngchik for about ten days in December, 1901, 
waiting for elephants to take our baggage to Senggora. There were extensive 
floods at that time in the neighbourhood, and we were forced at last to leave 
I. Malay children in this district call it haji naik kuda (pilgrims on horseback), owing to the shape of the flowers, 
but its common name is pisang musang (civet cat’s banana), owing to a belief that civet cats eat the fruit. 
15/11/05 
