51 
A JOURNEY IN JwIIORE. 
fish; and a few cnanges of dress composed my wardrobe. 
Experience had already taught me all the difficulties attend¬ 
ing such journeys, and that a good and comfortable supply 
of food and of clothing though very useful, would, under 
such circumstances, be more cumbersome than advantageous, 
on account of the difficulty of transporting them. So I 
took with me only what was absolutely necessary to support 
own existence and that of the two persons who accom¬ 
panied me for the space of one month, the supposed duration 
of the journey I was then undertaking. 
My intention was to enter the Malayan Peninsula by the 
river of Johore, and, continuing the route by land through 
the jungle, with which the Peninsula is almost entirely 
covered, to direct my march in the direction of Mount 
Ophir, and from thence to Malacca; tracing from Johore 
to the latitude of Malacca, through the midst of the Peninsula, 
a line which had not yet been followed by any European, 
and perhaps by very few, if any, Malays. It will be seen 
hereafter, that several accidents prevented me from making 
the journey as I first purposed. My design was to visit the 
several wild tribes which were said to inhabit in great 
numbers the most interior part of the Peninsula, and to 
obtain respecting them, the most full and exact information 
which circumstances wot Id allow me. 1 was also ordered 
by his lordship Dr Boucho, to ascertain if there would be a 
possibility of establishing a Mission amongst them. 
My small boat, which left Singapore on the fith of Sep¬ 
tember at five o’clock a. m., with a most favourable breeze, 
was at 10 o’clock between Tanjong Changy, the most 
eastern part of the Island of Singapore, and Pulo Tikong; 
doubling the western point of this small Island 1 reached, 
a few minutes after, a small Malay village near Gunong 
Bau. The name of the village is Tikong.* it consists 
only of a few miserable Malay houses, and is govern¬ 
ed by a Panghulu who was absent; I stopped there only 
a few moments and entered at once the Johore river. At 
half past eleven o’clock I reached another village called 
Pomatang where I landed. This second village is more 
considerable than the first, and is the residence of a Rajah 
then called Rajah Prang,f who was absent. I tried to 
* The village of Tikong is on the island called Pulo Tikong Besdr, Guaong 
Bau is on the mainland.— Ed. 
t This village is also on P. Tikong Bcsar. Raj£ Pi£ng is not a R£ja if by 
this term a king or ruler is meant. The Malay nobles and officials are fond 
of high sounding titles and cognomens (nama gelar). Many heads of Sukus, 
subordinate to petty yaoglmlus, are called LUj£ —Ed. 
