The Gardens of the Sun; Or, a Naturalist's Journal on the Mountains and in the Forests and Swamps of Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. VISIT TO JAHORE GONONG PULOI. On the way?Gambling?River-travel?In the Forest?Vegetation?A Eesting-place?Tropical Fruits?Breed of Dogs?On the summit? Wild Animals?Wild Men?Sale of Women. This mountain lies about twenty-five miles north-west of the native town of Jahore, and is a trifle over 2,000 feet in height. To reach it from Singapore, one must take post-horses or the coach which runs daily to Krangi, a police-station on the margin of the Old Strait, and thence little steam ferry-boats carry one on to Jahore, from which place the mountain is reached partly in boats via the Scudai river, and partly on foot through the forest. I had agreed to visit the Puloi mountain in company with the government botanist, and leaving Singapore early, we reached Jahore about 3 P.m., after several little stoppages on the way. The ride from Singapore to Krangi was a very pleasant one to me, fresh as I was from the old country. The roads are remarkably smooth, and of a bright red colour, their margins fringed with orchards of tropical fruits or rows of betel-nut palms. Here and there are patches of sugar-cane, tapioca, or indigo, little plots of great-leaved bananas, while at intervals one catches passing glimpses of neat white bungalows nestling amid tall cocoa-nut groves. Arriving at Krangi, hot and dusty, we rested some time in a cleanbungalow or rest-house, built for the convenience of travellers by the Government. The native police were very attentive, and we took our luncheon here and strolled around the station, and saw abundant evidence of the wild pigs, which are said to be very plentiful. While we waited, the Maharajah drove up in a neat little carriage drawn by a pair of ponies. This was just before his visit to England, and we obtained a good view of him....