A JOURNEY IN JOHORE. 
59 
numerous in the interior of the jungle. They are chiefly 
met with in damp weather; persons who are not accustom¬ 
ed to travel through the jungle sometimes suffer much from 
their bite, which is the more dangerous as very often it is 
not felt, thus giving them ample time to be cloyed before 
they are perceived ; ordinarily the blood continues to trickle 
long after they are removed; and the wounds they cause are 
difficult to cure : I have seen wounds caused by them which 
after several weeks were yet quite fresh. 
The state of my two men obliged me to take a new reso¬ 
lution. I agreed with the Jakun chief to convey me down 
the river to near the sea, where there is a small Malay 
village under a Panghulu. He provided me with his own 
boat, two of his sons and a third man. The Malay Panghu¬ 
lu I hoped would furnish me with men and a boat to convey 
me to the river of Batu Pahat. I intended by that way to 
re-enter the interior of the Peninsula, and prosecute my first 
intended journey. 
On the 18th I left the Jakuns of Banut; Two days and a 
half were spent in coming down the river. The boat being 
unfit to sleep in, I passed the two nights on the bank, and as 
on both sides of the river the ground is generally low and 
covered with water to a considerable depth, we cut some 
forked poles, and upon these placed sticks cross wise, by 
which means we had a dry place to sleep upon. We expe¬ 
rienced no other inconvenience during the night, but that 
caused by the rain from a thunderstorm which burst over us. 
On the third day I arrived at the Malay village. The chief 
being at his paddy field, in a kampong situated a few miles up 
a small river called Pingan, I was obliged to repair to that 
place. I reached the Panghulu’s habitation at about two 
o’clock p. m. The title of this chief is Panghulu Kissang, 
from his having for many years ruled a small place in the 
river of that name. He is an old man more than eighty years 
of age; his eyes seem to announce fraud and deceitfulness, 
hidden under a composed appearance. His children, to the 
third and fourth generation, form a numerous family. From 
information I received about this personage, a few days after 
my arrival at Malacca, I am induced to believe that both 
himself and the whole of his family have a bad character. 
They are considered as pirates, and the eldest son of the old 
father was hanged a few years ago at Pinang for having com¬ 
mitted piracy and murder. I was not aware of this when I 
arrived at his houaie, but I had soon occasion to know this 
people. 
