403 
FIVE DAYS IN NANING. 
but somewhere in the vicinity. It has sometimes been seen 
by favoured votaries to whom the Datu chose to reveal 
it, but none of them have ever been able to discover it again 
when they have gone on purpose to do so. The Datu is very 
powerful and pilgrimages are made to his shrine from all 
parts of the country. When the rice harvest is over the 
Malays come and sacrifice buffaloes, goats and fowls. 
Sick persons resort to it. But the most profuse votaries 
are some of the wealthy Chinese merchants of Singapore who 
visit the shrine in order that good fortune may attend them 
in their speculations. I was surprised to learn that one of the 
most respectable and wealthy of their number had long made 
it an invariable practice to sacrifice a buffaloe once a year 
to the Datu. The Chinese from Malacca generally come with 
their families in boats and pass some days on the spot. The 
roar of a tiger from the woods of Datu Dalong was heard all 
over Naning on the eve of the war. It is not more than 15 
years since the war, and yet this story is repeated and believ¬ 
ed, and every one either persuades himself that he heard it, or 
believing that it was heard, concludes that he necessarily heard 
it also, and, without the slightest intention to deceive, assures 
the enquirer that he did. In some cases however a Malay tells 
one of his wonderful stories with a somewhat dubious air, as 
though he lelt bound to believe it, while it went against the 
grain of his common sense to do so. 
A rude path now led us along the steep side of the hill and 
above the river which was seen through the branches glit¬ 
tering below. We soon entered on a good path 4 to 5 feet 
broad which lay for some time through the forest of Datu 
Dalong in an E. by S. direction. The burong Takwasa and 
other birds enlivened the shady scene, and from its depths 
frequently rose the loud lamenting cries of the unka, in which 
all the wildness and romance of these primeval forests find 
a v^ice. A block of granite protruding from the road in¬ 
dicated the composition of the tract. The poko minia’ 
abounded. 
About f past 7 o’clock we reached Malacca Pinda. It 
resembles the other villages of Naning, but has some marked 
features of its own and a greater air of neatness and cultiva¬ 
tion. The trees are old and large, and a circumstance which 
had struck me in some other places was here very obvious 
viz : the great height and slenderness of the coconuts. But 
this peculiarity was not confined to them, for the durians, 
which were numerous, partook of it so much that their whole 
character was changed. Gomuti trees abounded A fine 
