The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

VIII.] SUMATRA. 95abo\-e Palerabang there commenced a military road, which extendedup to the mountains and even across to Bencoolen, andI determined to take this route and travel on till I found sometolerable collecting ground. By this means I should secure dryland and a good road, and avoid the rivers, which at this seasonare very tedious to ascend owing to the powerful currents, andvery unproductive to the collector owing to most of the landsin their vicinity being under water. Leaving early in themorning we did not reach Lorok, the village wdiere the roadbegins, till late at night. I stayed there a few days, but foundthat almost all the gi'ound in the vicinity not under water wascultivated, and that the only forest was in swamps which werenow inaccessible. The only bird new to me which I obtainedat Lorok was the fine long-tailed pari'oquet (Palfecrnis longicauda).The people here assured me that the country was justthe same as this for a very long way—more than a week'sjourney, and they seemed hardly to have any conception of anelevated forest-clad country, so that I began to think it wouldbe useless going on, as the time at my disposal was too short tomake it worth my while to sjDend much more of it in movingabout. At length, however, I found a man who knew thecountry, and was more intelligent ; and he at once told me thatif I wanted forest I must go to the district of Eembang, wliichI found on inquiiy was about twenty-five or thirty miles off.The road is divided into regular stages, of ten or twelve mileseach, and, without sending on in advance to have coolies ready,only this distance can be travelled in a day. At each stationthere are houses for the accommodation of passengers, withcooking-house and stables, and six or eiglit men always onguard. There is an established system for coolies at fixed rates,the inhabitants of the surrounding villages all taking their turnto be subject to coolie service, as well as that of guards at thestation for five days at a time. This arrangement makes trav^ellingvery easy, and was a great convenience for me. I had apleasant walk of ten or twelve miles in the morning, and therest of the day could stroll about and explore the village andneighbourhood, having a house ready to occupy without anyformalities whatever. In three days I I'eached Moera-dua, thefirst village in Eembang, and finding the country dry andundulating, with a good sprinkling of forest, I determined toremain a short time and try the neighboui^hood. Just oppositethe station was a small but deep river, and a good bathing-jilace ;and beyond the village was a fine patch of forest, througli whichthe road passed, overshadowed by magnificent trees, whichpartly tempted me to stay ; but after a fortnight I could findno good place for insects, and very few birds dittei'ent from thecommon species of Malacca. I therefore moved on anotherstage to Lobo Eaman, where the guard-house is situated quiteby itself in the forest, nearly a mile from each of three villages.This was very agreeable to me, as I could move about without