# 
B OTA MCA L O' AUDENS, 
Singapore, 2L st December, 1877. 
loo 
Danes. wihl wmse nu« over, uiy in osuut iwrum ™ 
> Residency a splendidly wooded rang© of hills rise up^to 4 or 5.000 feet 
Land coast in the South to Quedah in the North. This range is known 
I have the honor to submit 10 you the following report on my recent expedition to 
Perak, for the purpose of examining the flora and vegetable products of the country. ^ . 
I left Singapore October 9 th, in. the S. S. “ By ah Pekhet " and after calling at -Malacca, 
Klang, Salangor, and Diunau-Sabataiig, arrived at Penang at 9 a.m, on the 14th instant, and 
left at 9 p. M. 011 the same day, per S. S. “Sri Sarawak 7 lor Larut, reaching Matang at 9 a. m. 
next morning. 
The Resident being here. 1 reported myself to him, and spent the best part of i lie day 
oking around Matang, visiting the Custom and Court House and flaol, with Mr. Sinclair. 
I left Matang for Thaipeng to which place the Resident had preceded me in the even- 
ing, arriving there at 7 p.m. and stopped at the Residency'. 
Owing ,to the recent heavy rains, the roads were in bad condition, rendering a nine 
miles jolting over them, in the Larut gharries, a circumstance worthy of remembrance.. Oc- 
tober lGtli, took a walk about Thaipeng and its suburbs ; but saw little interesting from a 
botanical point of view. . 
The sides of the hill on which the Residency is built, which is about 100 feet higu are 
mosfctv planted with Arabian Coffee, but they do not appear to be in a, very flourishing con- 
dition. which 1 think is due as much to the want of proper thinning and pruning as to the 
' sterility of the soil. Here, as in Singapore, it seems never to ripen a good crop at any 0110 
time, a few berries only, here and there, colouring together. 
The plants of Liberian Coffee which were sent up from the .Botanic (La-rdfim, Singapore, 
iu IVLav last, and planted here, are growing well with robust, health c foliage. 
The greater ' portion of the land about Thaipeng is taken up by tin-mines, _ stretching in 
all. directions for some miles. With these however, my present report has nothing to do. 
• Eastward from the 
and reaching from the _ 
to the Malays bv several names, but 1 think it is most frequently called Gunong Hijau. 
The late Mr. Birch, with a large number of natives, went up to one of the peaks above 
the Residency in 1875, which he estimated to be 4,425 feet above sea-level ; but there are some 
peaks near it . till higher, and .some of these -Mr. Low wished me to explore; but some days 
must necessarily elapse before guides and men could be got together for the purpose of ac- 
companying me, 
October 17th.— As the men for the hill had not yet arrived 1 accompanied Mr. Low and 
Air. Scott to see the tin -/nines at ICainuntiug. 
October IMli. - To-day we were making active preparations for starting on the morrow as 
the men had arrived;, and with them some who had bfeen up with Mr. Birch ; and at 9 a.m. on 
the 19th I left the Residency with .1 1- men and 4 or 5 days provisions, and started for th^ 
hills. An hour s walking through disused tin-mines, swamps and lalaug patches relieved by 
an occasional wade through a stream, brought us to the foot of the range, Immediately on 
entering the ]ungle wo were gladdened by tlffe sight of the most luxuriant, undergrowth, 
(xlobbas. Herbaceous Melastomads, and Pinanga maculata being the most noticeable. We 
started climbing in a N.E. direction, and in half an hour reached an old hut at 800 feet 
which had been used, by gutta collectors. At 1,800 we reached tne place where Air. Birch 
slept the first night after leaving Thaipeng : but the hut is now quite rotten and liasgallen 
down. . . » 
Lip to tliis point, Selaginellas, Liudsies, .Davaalias, Polypoduims, A'lemscums, Licuala 
acutifida and Cissus, pori'bvrophylla. are the most frequent plants met with. 
A little farther orr we" crossed a large stream near which T found several rare plant a, 
including two Rhododendrons. Som&old fallen trees here were beautifully covered with 
majestic Ferns and Grammatqphyllum, ’ . 
At 1,850 feet we fell in with a hut inhabited by three Chinamen, who are engaged in tm 
washing iu the gorges, and as it was raining heavily, we decided on staying here for break- 
fast. Temperature at 12 o’clock 78° Fahr. 
The rain continued all day so we made preparations for spending the night here, and 
during the afternoon 1 ^trolled through the Chinamen’s mine. 
