SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 
45 
Thursday the 16th, at day break, was fixed for our 
departure. 
“Next day was favourable, and the attempt was 
made. Dr Horsfield and his party were soon over- 
taken. At first the route lay along rich plains of rice 
fields, fine soils, and the country intersected with 
numerous streams, every indication of an extensive 
and industrious population ; sheds erected for the ac- 
commodation of travellers, at convenient distances, 
with an occasional trace of a road. They reached 
the village of Leman Manis, “a long straggling vil- 
lage, or rather plantation, on the romantic banks of 
a rapid river, which discharges itself into the sea at 
Ujung Karang, and up the stream of which our far- 
ther course lay ; here, as in several villages we had 
passed, we observed a considerable quantity of coffee 
growing under the shade of the large frait trees, and 
contiguous to the houses. Our arrival was welcomed 
by the beating of the great drum or tabu, which lias 
a place in every village. The drum is peculiar; it is 
formed of the trunk of a large tree, and is at least 
twenty feet long, hollowed out, and suspended on a 
wooden frame, lying horizontally under a shed ; one 
end only is covered with parchment.” 
So far they accomplished .the journey without 
much difficulty, using the acommodations of the na- 
tive travellers. Their course continued along the 
bed of the river, a bad substitute for a turnpike, but 
almost the only passage in these wild but beautiful 
districts. Their ascent was much steeper, the road 
