A JOURNEY IN JOHORE. 
61 
on such an occasion.” Two days after, the same man came 
again, and having fruitlessly tried to make me agree to give 
money, he told me, that I could start the next day; but 
that the men who accompanied me, would be ten in number, 
and must be well paid. I could not imagine for what rea¬ 
son so many men were required to accompany me ; I sus - 
pected that, fearing I might make a complaint againt them 
after my arrival at Malacca, they might possibly intend to 
despatch me in the river or on the sea, where this could be 
more easily executed than in the Kampong ; under this im¬ 
pression I told him, that four or five men being quite enough, 
I would not take one more. He went to see the Panghulu, 
and coming back, told me, that the next day, the boat would 
be ready. 
On the evening of the same day, we remarked, that all the 
men of the Kampong had repaired to the house of the Pan¬ 
ghulu. They spent the night there; when they made a 
dreadful noise, the cause for which I did not know. For se¬ 
veral nights we had slept but very little, keeping a look out 
in case of being attacked, and being assisted in our sedulous 
watching by musquitoes, which were there very numerous ; 
but on the last night the mysterious manner in which all the 
population of the place had repaired to the house of the Pan¬ 
ghulu still more excited our attention. About midnight I 
began to be sleepy, when my China-man awoke me saying 
that many men had come and were under the house, where 
they spoke for some time in a low voice, but the meaning of 
their conversation could not be understood. My two men 
appeared much frightened, thinking, as they told me, that this 
people at such an hour could only come for some bad pur¬ 
pose. But the conversation which had called our attention 
having ceased, we remained quiet the rest of the night and 
heard nothing more, except the noise which continued in the 
house of the Panghulu. 
T he next day at ten o’clock a. m. the boat being ready we 
prepared to start, I was surprised to find the Panghulu and 
his family apparently afraid, and making a long and tedious 
apology, for not having been able, as he said, to procure, me 
a boat sooner. I suppose he was under the apprehension, X 
would take some revenge against him after my arrival at 
Malacca. 
The river has its source about the center of the Peninsula. 
A boat can come down from its source to the sea in three 
days, and I suppose that five days would be spent in going up. 
It is very crooked from its source to the habitation of the 
