62 
A JOURNEY IN JOHORE. 
Jakuns, but not deep. I crossed it in many places, having- 
water scarcely up to the thighs. But from the Kampong of 
the Jakuns to the sea it is very deep ; in many places I could 
not reach the bottom with a stick of three fathoms. The two 
banks are so low that the true channel of the river cannot be 
distinguished without some difficulty : the great quantity of 
large trees which grow to the middle of the river make its 
bed easily lost; a boat is obliged to go among these trees in 
the same way as a traveller in the jungle without a foot path : 
a current always rapid, with these inconveniences, renders 
the navigation dangerous. It would certainly be very impru¬ 
dent to undertake to navigate it without a guide well ac¬ 
quainted with the place. The Jakuns who guided me, though 
well accustomed to the locality, lost their way several 
times. At about five miles distant from its mouth, the river 
is clear from trees, and presents a fine prospect. The banks 
are now high, and a great part of the adjacent grounds have 
been cultivated in former times, although they are now 
almost entirely abandoned. A considerable number of alli¬ 
gators which are met with in the mouth of the river, and 
a few miles higher, astonish the traveller who for the first time 
navigates it. 1 he river of Banut abounds with fish, and tur¬ 
tles of very large size. My guides caught several large fishes, 
and a turtle which weighed no less than sixty pounds. 
About three miles from the mouth of the river, on the 
left hand coming down to the sea, there is a small village call¬ 
ed Banut, consisting of about twelve or fifteen houses scat¬ 
tered over a space of nearly one mile. A Mahomedan priest 
resides here; there is also a Mosque but in a miserable state. 
About one mile from the sea, also on the left hand des¬ 
cending, is the junction with the small river Pingan; about 
two miles up which is a kampong or small village called Pin - 
gan, consisting of eight or nine houses ; this village is inha¬ 
bited only a part of the year. The inhabitants of Banut 
come there in order to plant rice, and after the harvest they 
return to their ordinary habitations The river Banut is 
thus inhabited by two kinds of men ; the Malays, about forty 
or fifty persons in number, inhabit the lower part; and 
Jakuns, about eighty persons, are found in the upper part. 
The great interval which divides these two populations is 
entirely deserted. 
General Remarks on the Interior of the Southern 
PART OF THE PENINSULA, 
From the observations I made in this journey, and in 
