/

MIS C EL LAN IES.

r .

VOL. II.

/ .,...~ ..

I

Printed and Published at tIle Sumatran Mission Pre~s.

BENCOOLEN:

-

I

CONTENTS •

•

-No.1; Memorandum of a Journ~y 'to the sumtnit of

GUlloOg Benko or the Sligar .loaf moun,tain in

the , inter' r of BencooIt>Il. fl. Account of a J ou rney f!"Om Manna to ~ Pasum.

mah Lebar and the ascent of Gunung·Dempo. by E. P resgrave .. .

$. Diary of'a Journey fi'om Bencoolen to PaIem­bang, by Capt. F. Salmond.

4 . Course of thE: Tulang Bawang river on the •

Eastern coast of Sumatra, by Captain Jackson.

~. Account of a Journey t~ the L ake of Ranow. in the inferior of Kroee, by J. Pattullo.

6. _Account of' a Journey from Moco Moco to

Pengkalan Jambi, through Korinchi, by Thos. Barnes.

7. De, ci'iptions of Malayan Plants, by William Jack.

S. Short Notice cOf)cerning t.he island of Pulo . Nias,-with compa~ati\le VocahuJarje~ in the

la~guages ofNias: Batta, Bima and Lampung,

-and in three Dialects of the Dayaks in Bor­

neo.

9. Account (~f some of the Customs pecu1iar to

the Dayaks who inbabit the country to the

\

, .J

11

..

(; 0 N /'l' E N T S.

Westw:lrd of the Banjermlulsin rive~' in Borneef - b) C. M.

10. Proofs of Cannibalism among the Battas, by , the Rev. R. Burton, l ~ !~.

it. Ge~~alQgi~~ \ A~count ~f ,'the Fa~iiy of the

p~es~~t R~juhs of Goa i ~ Celebes. ,.'

12. Abstract of the Gen~alogy of the Rajahs of

Pulo Perch~ (Sumatra') ; fro\n a M. S~: in the , .. ' I' . 11; I '\

possession of th.e Sultan of Indi-apura. ,

IS, Translation of t~e U [id~ng U nuang of Mo~o Mocci. , ' ' ,

" I

14. The Un dang U ;.dang of Moco Maco in the \ ' , i l ' \ ' (

, ri:itive Olalect and character. ,

15; Letter o~ the Native Schools,'. by, the Rev.

W" Robinson and N~ M. W~rci. , . . " :,

• J '

\

No.1.

);( E M 0 RAN ·n U M

J 0 UK N E Y 'f 0 T H, E S U ~~M IT

0.

GUNONG BENKO,

on THE )

SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN

.-

IN THE INTERIOR 011 BENCOOLENI

18~1.

, . ,*

, . \ ,

. , ',.... t>.~ .. , \

'jvEiwoRA'NDrn4 bj~ j~~rnei/to ·'iA~, ls~m~ttOftJ~' . . . ~ 1..! f 01.. ' , . ".' ) •• , ~ ( ~ .' • • 1I I

nong. B.t:nko or the, ~ugar Loqf Mountairl; in, tile inte: rib]" ;g:BeI2coolin. · ' , " ' .

• r , 1 '\ L .tJ'; j.. . , .

: J " .. ~ •

• 'J T H IS ;Mbu'ntaitJ, which·,stands,,detachea from the re~llq~ r:range.of hills, forms by its,peculiar. a,tId remark.

, able " shapE'., an e~cenent landmark on this; p'art"of the

c.oas ti lilies'about 18 miles N. E. MEene-oolen, but·its

_ exact pbsitw.n and di!ltance had never been correctly . \

, tlsceI':tai'ned!: Tw.o attempts had been made by Europe ..

",aos: to ,ascend, tb.~_ m~unt~in ·but ~ithou~ succesS, and

, i) Ige n(tJ:~l impression. p.H!V:3iled .that 'it ,was u,tterly im~ \ pl'a<::tical?~e,; to gain the summit. , Remarkable moun~

Aahl~ <?f ;~ljis , qe~c;rjp~ionar<l generaJly, ~'~lie,ved by the

, p~tjv~s. y?) b.~ the r~s,i<)ep'ce qf spirit~" L~,!l~ t~eir sum';

m~'ts 'a,l;e (to rli>.ider¢d as 'Kram~ts . or ,phtces. of peculiar

sancti ly,. ,At Krarnat of this nature wa~ said to exist on , .

the' t~Pl i pf'. the .s~ugar Loat and , i~ was, repor~E:d ,that the na ti ves sometimes adv~nturerl to, y,i~iit it fro~ mo.

ti,V.CS' d' s'Ilp,erstitio,n. It was the.refore resolved .to m_ake

,--a'not,h,er:.trial, , in the"expectation that it might afl~rd tb~ me~IlS of correcting and ex.tending the observa-

c

•

; .. )

3eVllNE't "l'0

, tions already comtneneed on the coast wiOt 8 "iew t. a more accur,ate survey of this part of the country.

1\ party of gentlemen accordingly proceeded from

Bencoolen on the 10th of June 1821. fur the purpose

of' efi'ectiflg ; this ' object. They' crossed t-he Bencoolen

river a little abpve Tanjung Agung, and _pruce~dillg

through the LIJmba Selapan district halted the first

_night ,at Lubu Pooar a small Rejang village, on the

batIks of a stream, which falls into the Sungey La­

m-ow. Th us far the journey was accom plis.hed on horse.

back, but it was found impractica.ble to carry the hors.

es any farther, and the party proceeded on foot to

l'urijong a respectable village situated 'on the banks

Qf the Simpang.ayer, and th'e residence 'Of the 'Pasi.

'rah of the tribe of Marigi the chief of the four into -

'Which the lleja:ngs ' ar~ divided: The others are called

'Be'rmani, 'Saloopti and 'JOfU Kallang. On the third

day they reached Rejaie' Bessi the last. village in the

, C1irection of the mountain, wher~ 'hey rested for l~'

'J~ight. It is situated on the Ayer Kiti a stream whick

falls into ' the Simpang.ayer L-elQ,w l~~H~ong. '~'he jour­

ney ' from l Lu~u Pooar to tbis, might with ease' have

been accomplished in one 'day il'lstead of two" bad

the weather permi!ted. , The mountain was now to be 'at ~emped, ' and iq or •

• der to 'ensure success, it was arrangej:l to pitch a small

t~at i~ the forest in oase the ascent could not be ne-

"

','

,~"

~mp1ished in one day. From Rejak Dessi, they pro­c:eeded o~er hilly grou.d gradually rising for about.

five mile!!, when they found their progress impeded by

the increasing steepness of the ascent, and ,then halt. e.d under an over'.'hanging rock, where the tent wai

pitched as i~ was impossible to carry it any further e­

ven if'space could have been found to erect it' on. The , course from Rtjak' Bessi was through d~ep forests

which pl'ecluded them from seeing the mountain. Tbe last \'iew they had of'it was at Rejak nessi, which it appeared to over.hang, and whence they were able to form some inea of the difficulties they. were likely to

enCOll'nter from \h,e s~eepness of the ascent, and the

precipitoll,sn'ess of the decli vities. SooQ after quittin~

Hejak Bel1si th,ey crossed a small river on a temporae I

ry bamhoo bridge thrown across a deep chasm be-t", een t~f) ·rock~. ~hich confined the stl-earn within a

narrow channel after being 'precipitated over a .fall

of consid c: rable height. A fine view of this fall was,

cornmande~ fi'om the byidge which was it.self sU'spend.

ed. about WO feet , above the stream, and the whole ­f()I"med with the surrounding forests, a beautiful, and

1'Omantic scene. Abou't 10 o'clock they commenced"

the .ascent . ?f the cone along ~h~ rocl<,'r bed of' a ll'JUuntaill torrent until they arrived in ii'out of a pere

• pendir.;~ lal' face of I.);ue rock stretchitl~ cOlIlp'!etely a •

.12

JOUltNEY'EO . , '

cross the rayine'which ha~ hitherto,afforded a passage~, . j.. t ,

an.d seeming tQ bar ~Jl furth~r pr~gres8~ " Tl1is \diffi-CV\ty was s'urm<?unted by placing two of th~.longes,t bamboos ag~inst the 'ro~k und~rne~tll where t!1e bar~

, i ... ... 'I •

root of a t(ee projected ~r~lll ~bove ; . by, the aid of.thesy , held fast at the b.ottom, a~H~ afterwards s,ecur~d hy a

\ . ' , ".. . . rattan at the top, they suc~eeded ill clamheri ng up to .

the tree 'which over-hu~g th~ . precipice.~rhe · n e x'~' ac­

c1~vity teqnin'ated at the head of anot.h er ravi ne, whe'rc

their 'p~ogre~s was again check'e~ by a juhin~ ' 1:~c1~" 'rende'red ·moi~t · by the tric4,ling of ~ small ~pri og l ) f

wat~r fi:6m among its cervices.. Here the guid~s de,­blared that further '.~ s c~nt · Was impracticable, anA that. ,

from fh ence the ~arty might return ~s &oO~ as ~rey ' pleased. The fact' is th~y :were e~tren~~ly~v~rse to '.

th ~ir pro~eedili$; ' fear~ng .'ilie ' yellgeanc~: or t~~' : ., ev~l , sp~rits' if they 'conducted strangers t ,Q tpe sU~1Hnit ;. . they wE\re therefor~ ~qyising to return at ~very diffi~ culty, and the ascent W~$ ultimately- accol11piisheq

wi thou't their ' aid, or ra ther in spltr.' f them. Theap~ pearances around were calculated to collfil'm tbis as-8~rtion, but before determining to ' return they ' exa~

mined the extent of the precipice, amI crossing the ra· .

vine, perceived that the oppositl} sHie though almost

pe:rpend~cular" had ' a thin c'oat.irig of soil anrl nfos~ witH,numerous l:ootsof trees half raid bare, by laying

hold qf which ,vith the h~ds and placjn'~ ~he toes il~. -

/'

- .--

/

.. GU N 0 N () B E f' K O.

/

,(,' ' ,~

the n~<i!11es, they at lel1gtl~ reached the ridge which f91',my,d. ~h~ right hand shoulder of the hill. , Aloqg'

this ,~ pat!l W~~ found spmetimes along the base; some~' ) ti'm~s o~~1' th~ f~~~ of: a succ~s~ion' of bal:e masses of

, " j'" , ,

rocl~ , which tt was nefessary to clamber over by the

aid ,of sllel t,vigfl and roo ts ~s' occa~ional1y fastened C • I W ~ ,

themselves i l l tpeil: fissul;es. The lflst of these preci. plces was -perhaps the ,m'Qst dizzy and dangerous, as it was llecessary , to IHake a step or two on a narrow

~edg~' o~ th,; flce of' a cliff of such ,height that the ey~ ~o,~rd ,~lOt di cern the qottom, and thence etttcb at a

drr. ,Rfump barely with i ~ rel!cb ,' by swinging from which it was possibl e with a , consideraqle P.fiV rt t~

clear th e rock. The denseness,' of t he tr,loss and ' th~

stun tell appeara nce o,f th,e tr.ees now incl i c a t~d theiL' • , • I

~pprpll~h . towards the top, and at leng th about two o~.

' ~loc~ ~ll ey found th em§e lves on the summit. This,:,

was ,a b~ l'e s pot~f, ~?t 11~~re t'lan fWlI' or five yards. in '

~r(!adt~l wi;\J ) a pre:cipiceon eacl~ .si~~ p,a,r.tly co\) ce,aletl

by hrush wood. Of those who set OUE together fl'O.lH the

foot ~f:the.lu ll a f~w ; I,1Jy reaqhe(l this poillt~ by far the

maj~r~ t.Y givi r;g up in despair at different parts of the

flsc~ nr, but the labour of those who persevered, was

- amply recol~lpensed by ,tjle view wh~~h opened from

the summit. , The line of the coast front Laye on the

north to a considerable dis tance beyond Buffaloe point , (

QQ the scuth was.cJistinctly marked '; the vessels in 'the . ' ,

\